LAST UPDATE | 16 Jan 2023
ON 22 JANUARY last year, Kerry got their hands on early season silverware. The local fans in Killarney saw the McGrath Cup raised by the Kingdom with an emphatic win over Cork.
It was a sign of things to come for the Kerry collective as more trophies followed.
And for four individuals, the rate of success has not slowed.
358 days after their pre-season triumph, there was more glory yesterday for David and Paudie Clifford, Paul Murphy and Shane Ryan.
The quartet conquered all with the Kerry camp last year as they picked up four trophies – McGrath Cup, Allianz league, Munster championship and All-Ireland glory.
They came together for the East Kerry divisional unit that won the county senior championship. Then they splintered with the Cliffords in Fossa colours at junior level, Murphy and Ryan representing Rathmore in the intermediate grade.
The victories continued to flow with Kerry and Munster title wins, before the campaign spilled over into the New Year, rounded off with a pair of All-Ireland victories in Croke Park.
Eight medals garnered for the collection in the space of twelve months, along with an array of individual accolades to supplement them.
It has been a stunning year of success for four Kerry stars.
David Clifford
The headline act locally in Kerry and at a wider national level over the past twelve months. David Clifford has produced a glittering highlights reel with UL’s Sigerson Cup final loss last spring the only mis-step taken by a team that he was on.
For Kerry he featured 13 times (missing the Munster final v Limerick), played five games for East Kerry (absent for their group stage opener) and then there were ten championship matches spearheading the Fossa challenge.
The scoring returns were staggering. With Kerry he amassed 7-55, for East Kerry he struck 2-24 and in Fossa matches he registered 5-87. That combines for a total of 14-166 from those 28 games and he posted 13-89 from play. Throw in for good measure the 6-21 he totted up while dazzling for UL in last year’s Sigerson Cup.
They are head-scrambling numbers and perhaps what best illustrates the shadow David cast over the football landscape in the past year, was the sheer volume of major contributions he made when his team required inspiration most. Look at his tallies in finals alone – 1-6 in the league win over Mayo and 0-8 in the All-Ireland decider against Galway. Then there was 1-9 when East Kerry blitzed Mid Kerry in their county final and returns of 2-12, 0-10 and 0-11 respectively in Fossa’s three significant final successes.
Throw in an All-Star, the Footballer of the Year award and a bunch of man-of-the-match honours. A truly staggering year.
Paudie Clifford
In a way the influence of the elder Clifford brother can be overlooked by the show-stopping exhibitions his younger sibling has produced. But Paudie Clifford’s impact was pronounced for all the teams he played for. His attacking promptings were valuable in pulling the strings for Kerry, as evidenced by a second successive All-Star, and for East Kerry, while for Fossa he played a more withdrawn role at number six, yet still found the time and space to make his mark offensively.
He made his own contribution in the scoring stakes. For Kerry there was 1-4 in the McGrath Cup, 0-10 across the league and 0-8 in championship encounters. He clipped over 12 points for East Kerry and there was important moments for Fossa too, 1-2 in the county final, 1-8 over two matches in Munster and a pair of points yesterday in Croke Park.
Captaincy provided another layer of responsibility in his Fossa role and he provided plenty in firing his various teams towards their ultimate goal.
Paul Murphy
Murphy was forced to occupy a different role in Kerry colours in their last campaign. He was a starter as the league commenced but injury disrupted his run with Kerry in 2022 and he was forced to adjust to an input from the bench. Gametime was provided throughout for Kerry and those late cameos were valuable, his kickpass launching the move that lead to Sean O’Shea’s seminal late free.
When county commitments were parked, Murphy burst to the fore as the defensive anchor for both East Kerry and Rathmore. He captained the division to lift the Bishop Moynihan Cup, pinging over a memorable winner from distance in the semi-final against Dingle. For his club he helped haul them back up to senior level, grabbing points in their tight tussles with Laune Rangers at the quarter-final stage and with An Ghaeltacht at the final stage.
The Munster final had to be skipped due to his trip to New Zealand and Australia for his honeymoon but the last week has seen Murphy restored to the Rathmore rearguard to help propel them to an All-Ireland title.
Shane Ryan
Number one in an All-Ireland final win in July, number fifteen in an All-Ireland final win in January. Shane Ryan’s sequence of success has been striking, due to the showcasing of his versatility. He has emerged as the netminder Kerry needed to provide assurance, growing into his role with confidence and dependable in finding targets from his kickouts. The Dublin semi-final win was the most graphic illustration of this as he held his nerve with a series of short kickouts late on.
Then came the interesting part of Ryan’s campaign. He played full-forward in East Kerry’s opening two games, hitting a total of 0-5, before moving back to between the posts as they surged to another county title. Then for Rathmore it was attacking duties all round. He sparkled in a group stage win over Glenflesk, shot 1-3 in their quarter-final and then 0-2 in the county final.
In Munster, Ryan hit 0-9 across two games, scores spread across play, frees, ’45s and marks. Then the last two games has seen the same tally of 1-3 posted in the All-Ireland semi-final and final, the latter return critical in swinging yesterday’s final Rathmore’s way. With his brothers Cathal and Mark, the team captain, making towering contributions to Rathmore’s success, it was a sweet conclusion to a prolonged season.
Gwan Connacht
Was looking forward to good match and hopefully a Connacht win until I saw the ring master himself, Frank Murphy is refereeing.
@Mike Faherty: are you suggesting a guy who played for Munster and Connacht is bias towards Leinster?
@Rudiger McMonihan: more so that he is incompetence defined, and as a unabashedly proud Munster supporter, Connacht losing would leave his Munster team as the only undefeated province and basically assured the trophy. Why can’t we have the referee from Ulster, like Chris Busby, if we can’t have a non IRFU ref?
@Rudiger McMonihan: Not at all, he is just as likely to ruin it for either or both sides, as the guys just loves being the centre of attention. That been said history tells us that Connacht normally come out the wrong side of his questionable decisions.
@Mike Faherty: appalling referee, never knowingly spares use of his whistle. It may just be coincidence but he saves his worst performances for Connacht games, and they are usually on receiving end….
Should be an interesting game, albeit not error free from either side. Neither team put out their first choice 23, but that’s not exactly a bad thing. Sean O Brien and Fitzgerald will relish this chance to play against an international centre and outhalf, while I am excited to see how Frawley plays for Leinster…haven’t seen enough of him, but he has looked quality. Many changes to Leinster’s pack, but can hardly say it looks weak. The Rainbow Cup should be treated as a good runabout for both teams, but it’s hard to feel like it is a serious interpro.
Looking forward to players like Penny, Frawley, Blade, and Daly playing themselves into the Irish squad this summer. Should be a good game.
@David Finn: you forgot Gavin Thournbury he will surley be an international before long
Connacht would be world champions if they only ever played irish teams. If they brought their interprovcial form to the rest of the league they’d be a serious force.
Saying that I can’t see leinster losing tonight.
@Chris Mc: eh… Connacht were second in their conference this season.
@Chris Mc: what are you on about? Connacht lost both games against Munster and their game v Ulster in pro14.
The interest in this game (on the East coast anyway) is ‘underwhelming’ …I suspect Connacht will win.
@Alan ODoherty: You were very quiet last week?