Pictured is Allianz ambassador and former Kerry Gaelic Footballer, Tommy Walsh ahead of this weekend’s GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final between Dublin and Kerry. This summer, Allianz, as proud new sponsors of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, has been showcasing the Championship's all-encompassing nature and it’s direct connection to the Allianz Leagues by encouraging fans, coaches, volunteers and players to ‘Write Their Own Story’. Photo Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
By John Harrington
Since Stephen Cluxton returned to the team for their Leinster SFC semi-final win over Kildare, Dublin have played seven championship matches and not conceded a single goal.
Despite such defensive excellence, former Kerry target-man, Tommy Walsh, believes the Kingdom can do some damage against the Dublin full-back line in Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC Final.
“If you get good ball in I think any full-back line can be got at,” says Walsh. “I know they haven't been conceding goals, but there has been chances there.
“Monaghan, in particular, had a couple of chances but just didn't take them. If they had, it could have changed the complexion of that game.
“I think Kerry are going to need to score at least one goal to win the game. Generally in these games whoever has gotten the goal has gone on to win the game.
“If you look back to 2019 with that Murchan goal at the start of the second-half. We were doing relatively okay, had fought our way back into it and then straight from the throw-in we were sucker-punched. They were big moments and I'd be confident enough that if Clifford, Geaney and these guys get in those positions they'll be able to take the chance.
“I think it's going to be very even match. I'd be confident enough that if Kerry can win midfield, which isn't going to be easy, but if they can win midfield and get quick ball into the likes of Clifford and Geaney and get Paudie Clifford into the game, you're going to have a massive chance.
“Because if there's quick ball into those guys, as we saw against Derry, particularly with David, there's very little you can do to stop them. It doesn't matter who's on him, if they get the right ball with the shooting ability they have they're going to punish you.
“I'd be hoping that Kerry will get a fast start, consolidate a little bit, and then have something to hold onto going into the last quarter.”
Stephen Cluxton has kept seven successive clean sheets since his return to the team.
The concern from a Kerry point of view is that in a match of fine margins the impact of Dublin’s bench could prove decisive.
They had the luxury of springing marquee players like Jack McCaffrey, Ciaran Kilkenny, and Dean Rock as substitutes in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final win over Monaghan, and Walsh concedes those could be trump cards to play in a tight game.
“They certainly have more experience on the bench when you look at the guys they've added to the squad,” he says.
“Jack McCaffrey, Ciaran Kilkenny, and Dean Rock coming off the bench, I heard someone say during the week they have more than 200 championship appearances between them.
“And Kerry obviously don't have the same level of experience coming off the bench, they have younger player with maybe the exception of Stephen O'Brien.
“I think it'll be a factor if we're getting down to the last 10 or 15 minutes and the game is pretty even. Dublin will be rolling these guys out and Kerry will need to be able to counteract that. I think that will really play into their mind when they're annoucing their team this evening.
“I'd love to see Stephen O'Brien starting, but I could understand too why they might decide to hold him because they'll be thinking if Dublin are bringing on these guys then we need some type of impact ourselves.
“The likes of Stephen would probably give him more off the bench than maybe some of the current starters he might be replacing.”
Much has been said about the renewed appetite in the Dublin team following two seasons bookended by All-Ireland semi-final defeats, but Walsh believes the pain many of these Kerry players had to endure before winning last year’s All-Ireland title means they won’t lack for hunger either.
“Yeah, there was a good bit of suffering along the way to last year's All-Ireland. The likes of David Clifford, Sean O'Shea, Tom O'Sullivan, those types of guys, don't want to be passing these opportunities up.
“It's obviously a great Dublin team with some of the best players that ever put on a Gaelic football jersey, not to mind a Dublin jersey, in the opposing team, but they want to make their own legacy.
“Back to back is part of that. Winning multiples in a row like Dublin have done, that's part of that, and something they're going to want to do. The weekend is another chance for them.
“You can see probably why there's that bit of extra energy in Dublin this year, it's almost as if it's getting everyone back together for one last go at it to break that record of going from eight to nine All-Ireland medals for those couple of boys which would be a huge achievement. But Kerry aren't going to want to give up that too easily.”
