The Hogan Cup final consistently offers a glimpse into the next generation of GAA talent. For most outside of Kerry, last year's Hogan Cup final provided the first glimpse of David Clifford's prodigious talent as Brendan's of Killarney romped home. Six months later, Clifford starred as Kerry won their third consecutive minor final. Brendan's were back in the Hogan Cup final today, beating St Peter's of Wexford 0-17 to 0-10 and while all of their forwards oozed class, one player who seemed destined for greatness was David Shaw.
Strange as it sounds, it was a relatively muted performance from the corner forward, who only contributed four points from play. Shaw has been lighting up Munster schools football this winter but today but did not get onto the scoresheet until the 26th minute. That said, the points he took offered evidence of his abundant gifts as a forward.
This point - Sem's last - was probably the sweetest of his scores, capped off by a subtle dummy to set up a score from a big distance.
Shaw's two second half scores were taken on either foot, with incredible ease.
The core of this Brendan's team were also playing for Kerry last September and it's incredible how comfortable they seem at Croke Park. (Shaw scored 1-1 in Kerry's 2016 minor final victory, but that match was very much the David Clifford show.) It's hard to know if Shaw will ever play for Kerry, however. He spent some time in January in an AFL training camp at the IMG training centre in Florida, and as in on the radar of talent scouts down under.
Since returning from that camp, Shaw scored six points from play in the Corn Ui Mhuiri semifinal and 1-4 in the Corn Ui Mhuiri final. Judging by the three-in-a-row Kerry minor team and two-in-a-row Sem win in the Hogan Cup, an incredible generation of Kerry footballers is on the rise.
Aidan O'Shea took a moment to send some praise to his cousin.
Congrats cuz @david_shaw10 Another Medal!! Back2back!! #hogancup
— Aidan O'Shea (@AIDOXI) April 1, 2017
That's some footballing family.
