How does a club team set about curbing the Cliffords?

Beaufort are preparing to face Fossa in Sunday's Kerry county IFC semi-final at Dr Crokes Park.

David Clifford of East Kerry, right, is marked by David Mangan of Mid Kerry. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Former Kerry manager Peter Keane is a wily old fox. He has seen it all throughout his time on the touch-line, but this week he will undoubtedly have spent a lot of time pondering the perennial football conundrum: How do you stop the Clifford’s?

In advance of the mouth-watering meeting of Beaufort and Fossa in Sunday's Kerry county IFC semi-final at Dr Crokes Park (4pm), the boss of the Mid Kerry side will be fully aware that victory or defeat may well depend on at least reducing the impact of the siblings.

Indeed, when the sides met in last year’s quarter-final, it was Paudie Clifford’s now infamous ‘Paudenka’ chip in the closing stages that turned out to be the difference. Beaufort must be ready for every kind of magic.

Go back a year to the 2024 last-four meeting of Fossa and Laune Rangers. Liam Hassett was at the helm of the Killorglin men for a magnificent two-point victory (1-19 to 3-11). David Clifford scored a phenomenal 3-8, but his team didn’t win.

“Firstly, you have to get the match-ups right," said Hassett. "You have to get somebody to mark David, and to mark David only. You have to know that David is going to do what David does, and try and limit him to points. Back then it was points, there were no two-pointers two years ago. That’s a big ask.”

“In relation to Paudie, you have to get a fella who will run with him and stay with him and ignore everything else. When he has the ball, try and prevent him from doing something with it, and to track him all the way.

“Paudie goes back into the backs, he’s all over the place when he’s a club player, and he can end up in the attacking square trying to get goals as well. You have to get a runner with Paudie, and Mike Breen might be the obvious choice there. They have probably marked each other in Kerry training.

“I think Ethan Coffey picked up David Clifford last year, and did well enough, so he will probably be the choice by Beaufort again. The big thing in marking the Cliffords is that, if you can get some bit of parity with them, the important thing is to win the other battles.” 

Despite Oisín Daly picking up Clifford junior, with Callum Moriarty acting as a sweeper on occasions, and Oisín Birmingham domiciled as close as possible to the elder brother, Hassett realised that, to beat Fossa, you cannot just think negatively. You have to attack.

“We knew we were trying to do damage limitation with David, but they defended in numbers and we felt that if we ran at them, they wouldn’t be used to a team running at them and getting in behind them. Tom Whittleton got a great goal early on, and we went after their kick-out, believe it or not,” he added.

“It was the old rules, and we didn’t decide to go back and put 14 men behind the ball. We went after their back-line, and it paid dividends. My own nephew, Eoghan Hassett, had probably one of his best days in a Laune Rangers jersey, and he kicked ten points. It was a bit of a shoot-out. 

"There were still a lot of things that went our way too. I think Fossa have improved though. They have improved their defensive line, and they have brought in a few young fellas. They are a different team. There is obviously Jerome Stack as well coming in there. He has freshened things up a bit.” 

The man who lifted the Sam Maguire Cup for Kerry against Mayo back in 1997 has seen a lot of Beaufort in this year’s intermediate championship. Despite the loss of Kingdom star Sean O’Brien to a cruciate  injury, Hassett has been hugely impressed.

“On Beaufort, I think they have the power up front. I saw them last week against John Mitchels, and the number of goal chances that Beaufort had. They have serious power in attack, and if they go at Fossa, we’ve seen that Ballymac got three goals against Fossa, and that’s a young Ballymac team.

“Beaufort have a strong, physical, powerful forward unit, and obviously they have their goalkeeper back in Sean Coffey. That’s a huge plus as well. He’s a big presence inside there.

“They have to (attack), because that’s the way they’re playing at the moment. They’re really going at defences, and the last day against Mitchels, when they needed to go and win the game, they went and they won the game. The next day they will have to win the game for 60 minutes and more.” 

In last weekend’s quarter-final, Listowel Emmets had their own plans to curb the Clifford brothers. Paudie was still playmaker, and kicked two points, while David was his usual magnificent self, with a personal tally of 0-12. Hassett feels, however, that tomorrow could be Beaufort’s day.

“We know that Fossa are used to staying in the game, and they’re used to grinding it out in the end, with the Cliffords. It’s harder now to stop David, with the two-pointers, and I was listening to Kevin McStay talking about the goal not meaning as much because of the two-pointers from outside.

“If you have a serious two-point kicker it’s worth an awful lot. That’s why they’re saying that the goal should be a bigger score. David can get a two-pointer from anywhere. In a big pitch, David is able to swing it over the bar, and Paudie too, if it’s outside the ’45, with a dead ball as well.

“The Clifford brothers are harder to pin down, because they’re able to execute those scores, but I think there are goals in Beaufort. If they keep going, and keep progressing the way they are, and obviously with the Peter Keane factor, he seems to have them working harder as a unit.

“It’s going to be tight though. The Cliffords and Fossa will want to get to the final as well.”