It was a heavyweight showdown in Croke Park last night as last year's All-Ireland finalists met for the first time this season. While some would've expected Kerry and Dublin to be on level footing, their performances were anything but.
Despite it still being early days in the 2024 football calendar, Eoin Murchan and his Dublin teammates made their intentions undoubtedly clear with statement performances.
While nobody is getting ahead of themselves with Dublin's 10-point victory just yet, there was plenty of takings from last night's game, including a hat-trick from Con O'Callaghan and a defensive masterclass from Eoin Murchan.
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1. Eoin Murchan's Defensive Masterclass
Often classed as one of the most underrated footballers in the country, Murchan was anything but last night. The Na Fianna man held POTY David Clifford to a mere four points, only two of which came from play. What could've been a hotly contested battle between the pair became a masterclass for Murchan and a disaster for Clifford. If that wasn't enough, Murchan was phenomenal in moving the ball out of the defence quickly and was fundamental to Dublin's scoring ability. He would've been man of the match if not for Con O'Callaghan's hattrick.
Clifford was effectively shut down by Mick Fitzsimons in last year's final. Another Dub has proven he can control Kerry's talisman.
24 February 2024; Eoin Murchan of Dublin in action against David Clifford of Kerry during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
2. King Con regains his throne in Dublin v Kerry
Con O'Callaghan deserved of a throne last night as he bagged his second man of the match award in two games as he wowed the Kerry Defense with three goals and five points. It was a huge statement from the Dublin forward who put in a huge shift while his Kerry counterpart was held to a total of four points, a tally that may not have seemed so insignificant in the face of Con's excellence. While David Clifford is probably still the most feared forward in the game, O'Callaghan's performance last night dwarfed that of his Kerry counterpart, in what could become a huge rivalry as the season rumbles on.
It's a hat-trick for Con O'Callaghan 🔥#UpTheDubs pic.twitter.com/CU68kMdPOD
— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) February 24, 2024
3. Theo Clancy impresses as the future looks up for Dublin
While the last few years have seen a lull in Dublin's famous production line, 20-year-old Kilmacud Crokes star is certainly making waves. The full-back has put his hand up as a breakthrough star of 2024 with a number of solid performances in full-back. The UCD studente is showing plenty of top-class attributes with his ever-calm presence and his ability to turn defence into attack when he gets on the ball. If Clancy is a sign of what's to come the future could be very bright for Dublin.
3 February 2024; Theo Clancy of Dublin during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Mayo and Dublin at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
4. Kerry over-reliant on Clifford and O'Shea
While Jack O'Connor will undoubtedly be wracking his brain trying to figure out how it all went so wrong last night, one thing was clear. Kerry are very limited to David Clifford and Sean O'Shea up front, between them they scored nine of Kerry's fourteen points and without them, the Kerry attack looked devoid of ideas and unable for the Dublin defence. If Kerry are to compete at the business end of the season they'll need more variation up front and their star forwards in full form.
24 February 2024; David Clifford of Kerry during the Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
5. Not all doom and gloom for Kerry
Despite what seemed like a sorrowful day for the green and gold, it's not all doom and gloom. Kerry were slow to start and left themselves too much to do. However, they outscored Dublin in the final ten minutes of the first half and were on par with the All-Ireland champs if not better for much of the third quarter, closing the gap to three at one point. If they could well up the careless goals, there's little between there was little between them and Dublin.
It was a ruthless performance from Dublin, the type of which we've become unaccustomed to seeing from them since the departure of Jim Gavin. They take on their 2023 semi-final victims Derry next, in what will be a huge challenge for Dublin's forwards.
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