The fall of Fossa: The good, the bad and the ugly

There were tears for the Cliffords after Sunday's Kerry IFC loss but the consequences aren't all bad

TOUGH: David Clifford and Paudie Clifford have dealt with real pain in 2023, so there's little question they will come back stronger from Sunday's Kerry IFC final loss to Milltown/Castlemaine. 

The eventual fall of Fossa was the romantics’ equivalent of shooting Bambi on live tv (or livestream at any rate). 

After everything the Clifford family has been through in 2023, book-ending it with heroic club glory in the Kerry IFC final would have provided a neat and appropriate outro to a year chaos, turbulence and sadness for Kerry GAA’s first family.

However their one-point defeat to a Milltown-Castlemaine side that featured a man of the match display from Jack O’Connor’s son, Eanna – sub-plots abounded – wasn’t all bad news in the Kingdom’s court. 

Austin Stack Park on Sunday wasn’t just theatre; it was laden with consequence.

THE GOOD: They say that 46 BC was the longest year, but David and Paudie Clifford might argue the toss with Caesar. Even their brief interlude after winning the All-Ireland Club JFC last January was hijacked by Kerry’s necessity for Allianz League points. Now at least they get some down time, maybe two months of it. It’s questionable whether Jack O’Connor was smiling because his two sons won a county title or because he’d have fresh Cliffords to mix into the equation come the spring.

THE BAD: It’s not that Cill na Martra won’t welcome Milltown-Castlemaine with open arms to the Muskerry Gaeltacht next Sunday for the Munster IFC semi-final. But the prospect of the Clifford bandwagon rolling into the delightful mid Cork village, with its football obsession, would have been a sight, a sight to behold. There’s the additional frustration that Milltown-Castemaine are, in the main, a better balanced side than Fossa, and hence a tougher nut to crack for John Evans’ side. Either which way, the culinary quarter would do well to stock up on burger buns.

THE UGLY: Anyone concerned with the precarious state of the Kerry SFC won’t have been delirious to see East Kerry win their fourth title in five tries earlier in November. That’s no slight on the division, it truly isn’t. Work done on the ground and in the juvenile sphere means East Kerry will be a powerhouse for years to come. But to even up the pitch, so to speak, a Fossa promotion to the senior grade on Sunday would have taken their star turns out of East Kerry’s orbit in 2024 and probably made the divisional side less extra-terrestrial as they go for three titles in a row. They won’t have it easy by any means – it will be fascinating to see if Austin Stacks, Kerins O’Rahilly’s and John Mitchels can reach a peace accord and throw their full weight behind the efforts of the St Brendan’s divisional board to which they are now tethered.

FOGRA: Will there be a more competitive county intermediate football championship in the country in 2024 than Kerry’s? Hardly. A cursory glance across the plain states sees the following contenders: Austin Stacks, Kerins O’Rahilly’s, John Mitchels, Legion, Kilcummin, Beaufort, Gaeltacht, Desmonds, Laune Rangers and Beaufort to name but ten.

And Fossa.