Jack O’Connor praise for Kerry's rested treble hero Clifford

The Fossa man made an immediate impact against Tyrone.

Sun, 23 Feb, 2025 - 16:46

John Fogarty

Jack O’Connor hailed a fresh David Clifford’s “bit of magic” in securing Kerry a second Division 1 victory from the jaws of death.

The two-time footballer of the year made his seasonal return as a substitute against Dublin in Tralee last weekend and crowned his first start with three goals in Pomeroy.

Clifford’s extended break from the game was required, said his manager. “He’d the bones of four months away from it. He needed it. He had a period there for two or three years where he was virtually playing all year round. Great to see, just hope he can keep that form going.”

O’Connor was delighted to see his team’s rallying finish after they shipped criticism following the back-to-back home defeats to Donegal and Derry. “We won four of Tyrone’s last five kick-outs. I think that was critical.

“That was an awful tough game. A lot of things went against us. Conceding the penalty, Shane [Ryan] to save it then they put in the rebound and having two black cards, 15 against 13 at one stage. We weren’t even too sure what to do at that stage but Paul Geaney just stayed up and everyone else retreated.

“The lads showed great heart. They’ve got a lot of criticism over the last month or six weeks but they showed there is a bit left there. There is good spirit in the group and they showed that today.”

Kerry were smarting after letting victory slip late against Dublin last Saturday. “Jesus we were awful disappointed after last Saturday night. We never should have lost that game 12 points up. Just a bit of naivety and sloppiness caused us to lose that game.

“We were fierce disappointed so we were awful determined to come up here and give it a good shot. We felt we were up against it because we were down a few bodies.”

Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke said there was little benefit to them when Joe O’Connor and Clifford were black carded as Kerry only had to keep one player in the Tyrone half. He made a similar complaint last week when Conor Reid was sin binned for Mayo.

“Yeah, well it's certainly not giving you any advantage at all. They can put the two men wherever they want. When they are attacking, they can have extra men there and, when they are defending, they can put them back. It isn’t working out that way and it is something that is going to have to be looked into.”

O’Connor revealed Seán O’Shea joined the injury list with a small knee injury that required rest. Tom O’Sullivan’s calf strain picked up against Dublin kept him out and Gavin White has yet to make an appearance since Dr Crokes’ All-Ireland semi-final defeat last month.

O’Connor will be glad to see the back of this block of five consecutive weekends of of games when they go to Castlebar next weekend. “We will, even ourselves from the management point of view. It’s tough going because you no sooner finish one game that you’re turning your thoughts to the next game.

“On the way down now on the bus we’ll be thinking of Mayo and going to Castlebar next week, nothing soft there. It’s tough going but sure look they’re the cards we were dealt.”