One of the suspicions that travelled with Dublin through their unbeatable years was that they didn’t fancy dealing with the high, dropping ball into Stephen Cluxton’s square.
It was said so often but observed so seldom that it had become a kind of cliché.
Its origins possibly go back to their last day of defeat at Croke Park when Michael Murphy unseated the full-back line and bear-swiped the ball to Ryan McHugh for the goal from which Dublin unraveled. And Galway's Damien Comer found a pressure point in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2017. Everyone nodded sagely at that moment. See? They don't like it. They don't like the randomness of that flighted ball which you can't really coach against. But the Dubs won pulling up that day and in the games since, opposition teams seemed either reluctant or unable to put the theory to the test.
Already, the nonchalance of Clifford's striking style is one of the more celebrated sights in Irish sport. But he snatched at this one and it went wide
It became a live issue again in the 11th minute of this All-Ireland final when Paul Geaney, coming deep to collect possession, looked up and saw, as he expected, David Clifford posting Jonny Cooper up for a one-on-one situation. Geaney delivered a kick born of a fellow attacker's empathy towards the kind of ball that Clifford needed to attack.
By then, Clifford, the heir apparent to the roll call of Kerry’s once-in-a-generation men -- Cooper and Maurice Fitz and Donaghy and Sheehy and Tom Long -- had been having a curious opening 10 minutes to his first ever senior final. Paul Mannion’s point after just 18 seconds was essentially like a drop of brandy to every soul in Dublin. It was a settler. Things would be okay. A minute later, Clifford got the ball at the other end with a chance to answer. Already, the nonchalance of Clifford’s striking style is one of the more celebrated sights in Irish sport. But he snatched at this one and it went wide. Six minutes later, he added another wide.
It was an early blow to the multiple scenarios that the Kerry cognoscenti had come up with in convincing themselves that they could somehow win this thing. If Clifford was to have an off day well: what then? But no sooner had those doubts materialised than Clifford showed again, whipped his first score of the day and then ambled away in that moseying style of his.
You are hoping for leniency and that the rest of the world would be distracted by that dropping football. But no dice
Then came Geaney’s ball. The mad thing was that the crowd didn’t even get to see how Dublin would deal with it because when it arrived the damage had already been done. Jonny Cooper was caught behind Clifford and from a certain angle, he was eclipsed. There was no cover - Cian O’Sullivan was on the bench: the one gamble Dublin made here was in leaving their full-back line unprotected. Cooper found himself dragging and hauling Clifford back: any defender would have done the same in that situation. You are hoping for leniency and that the rest of the world would be distracted by that dropping football. But no dice. The foul was whistled and penalty awarded even as the ball fell. Cooper protested his innocence but the world - or at least referee David Gough - wouldn’t listen.
Geaney’s penalty was saved but the Fossa prodigy had gained a vital edge in this battle with one of Jim Gavin’s most reliable and senior defensive custodians. In the 17th minute, the situation grew more alarming for Cooper. Clifford again took possession and forced a foul and a yellow card. Seán O’Shea, who would finish the day with 10 points from 10 shots, made light work of the free.
The big issue that would define Dublin’s second half was coming into focus now. Asking Cooper to survive for a further 50 minutes on a yellow card against such a gifted and physically imposing forward was asking a lot. Cooper is as wily as they come and was best suited to shadow Kerry’s main scoring threat. And Dublin couldn’t afford to take him off and replace him. It was a risk they had to take.
They almost made it to half-time. Almost. But in the 35th minute, Clifford used his size to pivot inside Cooper and take a ball. The Dublin man had no way of knowing what the situation was behind them in that second. He couldn’t risk leaving Clifford free. He had to drag him back. The Kerry crowd was baying now. Cooper smiled mirthlessly and he shook his head. But he probably knew. A second yellow and a red. And also another free which O’Shea clipped over. It left Kerry trailing 1-09 to 0-8 at the break. A four-point gap against Dublin at half-time would usually spell curtains. But a four-point gap against a Dublin team with 14 men left a chink of light.
And it must have changed the projected half-time talks. Jim Gavin had literally no time to think about how Dublin should respond to this before his players were sitting before him in the dressing-room. Kerry knew what they wanted to do: leave Paul Murphy in a free role as sweeper and cut off the channel to Paul Mannion. It worked. Dean Rock was the only Dublin forward to score from play in the second half. The 1-3 contribution by Jack McCaffrey, an outrageous return from wing back, was the main reason the All-Ireland champions survived that torrid second half.
The odd thing was that despite being the source of such havoc, Clifford himself had a quiet day. Once Cooper left, the spotlight of the game didn’t really fall on him again. He landed one score in the second half and seemed to be hobbling as the contest went into its final quarter. There were moments in the second half when he was posted all alone in front of Stephen Cluxton’s goal, with Michael Fitzsimons now in Jonny Cooper’s role. But Kerry couldn’t find him when he was free.
In different ways, both Clifford and Cooper will spend the next few days knowing that there is much more in them.
It will make for fun when they meet again.
