Eoin Liston: 'If Clifford was out, there’d be nothing between the four teams'
Joe O'Connor, left, and David Clifford of Kerry celebrate after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final
The pain Kerry suffered at the hands of Dublin and seeing them win multiple All-Irelands remains a motivating factor for Kerry, says Eoin “Bomber” Liston.
The former Kingdom star believes David Clifford, the footballer he considers “the best forward I have ever seen”, is the one difference between Kerry and Saturday’s opponents Armagh as well as Donegal and Galway.
Seven from seven, Jack O’Connor has yet to suffer an All-Ireland semi-final defeat but this is a game Kerry are treating carefully, says Liston.
After losing out on All-Irelands in finals to Dublin in 2019 and last year and the semi-final defeat to Tyrone in ‘21, they can’t afford to take anything for granted.
“Kerry worry about every championship match, have no doubt about it,” said Liston at an official Armagh GAA preview event in Tassagh on Wednesday night. “Maybe the supporters don’t travel as much to the semi-finals but I believe they’re very concerned about this match.
“I hope that they’re looking at the form. What’s left is Galway who have won three Connachts in a row who should have or could have beaten in an All-Ireland two years ago. Armagh, they haven’t lost a (SFC) match in two or three years apart from the draws. They’ve been very competitive.
“I know Kieran McGeeney personally, seen him operate in a dressing room, seen how committed he is, seen the enthusiasm. Jees, if you don’t perform for that fella, you’re never going to perform.
“My heart goes out often to him and getting so close and not getting over the line but Pádraig Harrington experienced it and Justin Rose and eventually these fellas get over the hill.
“I’m hoping it won’t be (on Saturday) but between the four teams left it’s a toss of a coin. If I’d a free bet, I’d bet on Kerry mainly because of David Clifford but if David Clifford was out there would be nothing between the four teams.
“We do take semi-finals seriously and there is a lot at stake. Kerry have suffered a lot of hurt over the last number of years watching a great Dublin team getting there and winning an awful lot.
“These Kerry lads, they won there a couple of years ago but they want more and there’s a huge hunger and they won’t hand it to Armagh. Armagh are going to have to deserve it and it has the makings of a great game, I think.”
Liston played alongside Mikey Sheehy and Pat Spillane and against Matt O’Connor but he holds Clifford in higher regard. “There are different levels. This is the best forward I have ever seen.
“There have been fellas very close to him but I’d be putting him the best. I’d put Peter Canavan, fellas that come to mind The Gooch (Colm Cooper)… even just the three of those. I’m biased, I’m a Kerryman but to me he’s the best forward.”
Liston was given a lift to Wednesday’s event by his friend, Armagh coach Kieran Donaghy and joked he had picked up nuggets on the drive from Tralee to relay back to Jack O’Connor.
As an International Rules selector, Liston saw how Donaghy as well as McGeeney formed great bonds among players towards a common goal. “He has energy, he has three or four batteries compared to the rest of us with the one.
“He’s just so enthusiastic, such an optimist, fun-loving and you have to enjoy training, the banter, the craic. There’s a serious competitive side – he hates to lose. He would be such an asset to any team in any sport.
“It’s not just because he’s from Kerry and that he’s a friend of mine, I just know certain people who have that charisma that is totally unique that can unite a team environment and get it firing.”
At the preview, Stevie McDonnell maintained Armagh wouldn’t be 70 minutes away from an All-Ireland final had they chose to end McGeeney’s term last August – the vote was 46-16 in favour of giving him a 10th season in charge.
Insisting senior players would have left the set-up had McGeeney’s term concluded, Former footballer of the year McDonnell said: “They would have gone with him. That would have been an absolute disaster, not only for the current group of players but also for Armagh as a whole. I don’t think we’d be sitting in an All-Ireland semi-final.”
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