David Clifford will look to cap one of the greatest seasons in GAA history this weekend by claiming the Kerry Premier Junior title with his club Fossa.
Clifford was inspirational in helping the east Kerry side reach the decider, kicking nine points in the semi-final win against Ardfert on Sunday.
Fossa just had enough to squeeze into the final seeing off their opponents by 0-14 to 1-10, with David and his brother Paudie scoring eleven points between them.
And he's only two weeks off lifting the Bishop Moynihan Cup after an imperious display for East Kerry in the Kerry SFC final.
This premier junior final is one of the most eagerly anticipated club games of 2022. It's not just the Clifford factor. Kerry great Eamonn Fitzmaurice is part of the Fossa management team. His former teammate Marc O'Sé manages Listry. The clubs are separated by eight kilometres so put it all together and Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney is set to host an epic cup final.
Fossa just had enough to squeeze into the final seeing off their opponents by 0-14 to 1-10, with David and his brother Paudie scoring eleven points between them.
Interestingly though, Fossa will be underdogs here. Listry - who beat Fossa in the Championship group stages - come into the game after battling back from 7 points down with 20 minutes gone to win 2-12 to 1-9 over Ballymacelligot. They lost last year's final to Skellig Rangers and are battle-hardened and hungry to make amends for last year.
The Clifford factor
Of course, the main attraction of this game for neutrals would be David Clifford. The 23-year-old has been dazzling spectators ever since the 2016 Hogan Cup. Tim Moynihan ofTerrace Talk on Radio Kerry, says that the All-Ireland winner is attracting people from all over the country to watch him.
He's the one player that's really drawn the crowds post All Ireland this year. There are people coming from up the country to where we are geographically, and just coming down to see the guy and he's definitely worth the entry fee anyway.
If Fossa win on Sunday, Clifford would claim his fifth piece of silverware this year. He has already won the All Ireland, a Munster title, National League and the Kerry Senior Football Championship with East Kerry. Even more impressively, the All Star has only lost two games of football this year according to Moynihan.
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He lost to Listry in the group stages, who obviously they are meeting this weekend, and that game in the Sigerson Cup.
The Terrace Talk presenter believes that if Clifford retired tomorrow, he'd be recognised as a Kerry great, and that he is further along the line of his development than past Kingdom legends such as Colm Cooper and Maurice Fitzgerald. Moynihan believes that the GAA could use Clifford as a product due to his sheer presence.
I think the GAA could use him like as a product, a product in the sense that to go around weaker counties. He has this presence and this link with young footballers, they just look up to them, not just physically but he's a box office guy. I think the GAA could do well to engage him in going down another journey, what he could do for the GAA, because he's such a draw at the minute, it's absolutely frightening.
Due to the unique structure of the Kerry championship, many of the players on both sides would have been part of the victorious East Kerry team. The Senior Championship has teams that have been amalgamated from smaller clubs, to give players a chance to play senior football. Once the Senior championship has ended, the players return to play with their respective clubs. However, Moynihan believes that any friendship made with their East Kerry teammates will mean nothing this Sunday.
These two teams would be part of the district team that won the county championship, so we'll see guys going at it this weekend that played together two weeks ago in the county final. There is a local rivalry there and I tell you the friendship of the East Kerry team goes out the window and it's all for the club this weekend.
Impossible to defend
Ahead of the final, many pundits are questioning how each team's defence will cope against the forwards. Listry come into the final after their star forward Aaron O'Shea scored 2-2. They also have the talented Ruairi Murphy to call upon, who impressed earlier in the senior championship. Moynihan thinks that the Clifford brothers will bail the defence out in the final.
People are questioning the defence of Fossa but it's just like Brazil back in the day. That they'll concede a lot but they'll score a lot on the other side. We describe Paudie Clifford as writing the cheques and David cashing them because he's one of the best centre forwards in the country right now.
Listry manager Marc Ó Sé was renowned as a fierce marker back in his playing days but Moynihan believes that any plan the manager has for Clifford will not work.
From the defence point of view, Marc Ó Sé would have marked the best in his time, the likes of Bernard Brogan, so he'll have a plan for David Clifford, but I think anybody that's put a plan in place of him over the last couple of years, it really hasn't worked. He seems to come out on top of every battle and even the day he doesn't pop up with big scores, he's taking players out of play.
We'll know tomorrow if Ó Sé has the answer.
Additional reporting by Rory Cassidy
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