Stop Paudie and Mayo may just kick the door down
by Dr. Richard Martin
The GAA was founded on November 1, 1884, in Thurles.
From that day until now, Mayo and Kerry have met 29 times in the All-Ireland senior football championship.
Mayo have defeated Kerry on just six occasions: 1936, 1948, 1951, 1996, 2017 and 2023.
Up to now, they have played each other in four finals: 1932, 1997, 2004, and 2006. Kerry have been victorious on all occasions.
Kerry are chasing their 40th All-Ireland victory, Mayo are chasing their fourth.
Mayo have won three All–Ireland titles - 1936, 1950 and 1951.
Since our last victory in 1951, we have played in 11 finals. That’s right 11: 1989. 1996. 1997. 2004. 2006. 2012. 2013. 2016. 2017. 2020. 2021.
And lost them all.
Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. Red cards, the brawl in the 1996 replay, the massacre in 2006, the own goals in 2016, penalty misses. . .the list is endless.
Mayo and Kerry will meet next Sunday in the All-Ireland final of 2026.
Before looking at current form, history and tradition is heavily weighted in Kerry’s favour. They are the Kingpins, we are the minnows - the perennial bridesmaid.
Deep down they don’t respect us, much as they may want to pretend otherwise.
Jack O’Connor laughed and guffawed at Mayo football from start to finish in his book Keys to the Kingdom.
It begs the question: if Mayo are to defeat Kerry, how are they going to do it?
First things first, Paudie Clifford has to be stopped. In last year’s final Donegal manager Jimmy McGuiness persisted with a zonal defence and gave him the freedom of the park. All told that afternoon he had 76 possessions. Yes, 76. You cannot allow a player of that quality to have that much influence on the game.
This year, in the semi-final against Dublin, they too persisted with a zonal defence and he had 70 possessions over the course of the game. It’s criminal. He controlled the game from start to finish.
He has the uncanny ability of sensing the tempo of a game and knows exactly when to inject pace or slow the game down. Very few players possess that quality.
It comes from having an innate understanding of the game. What makes him even more dangerous is he invariably chooses the right option.
If you leave him unmarked he can kick points for fun inside and outside the two-point arc (with either foot), kick 40/50 yard passes over the top that will unlock a defence (he did it twice against Dublin for two marks), or take the ball on himself and solo past two or three defenders and fist the ball over the bar.
By any standard or any metric, he is one of the all-time great Kerry half-forwards, cut from the same cloth as Declan O’Sullivan, Paul Galvin, Pat Spillane and Ogie Moran.
However, his most dangerous weapon is the telepathic relationship he has with his brother David. If you want to stop David Clifford you must stop the supply lines. And the main supply line is his older brother Paudie.
They have developed a telepathy through thousands of hours of practice in their back garden, and with their club and county.
The bottom line is this. He has to be man-marked. No matter where he goes on that pitch, he needs to be tracked. If a defender has to sacrifice his own game, so be it.
Zonal defending has been proven not to work. He’s too wily and clever. Giving a player with his class that amount of time and space on the ball is lunacy.
If he wants to wander all the way back to his own 21, follow him. Track him. Breathe down his neck and test his pulse. But under no circumstance give him the freedom of the park.
The one silver lining is that he doesn’t have electric pace. He’s fit, he’s mobile, he’s nimble and fast, but he doesn’t have the athleticism of a Ger Power, or a Michael Donnellan or a Graham Geraghty.
He can be tracked.
Sometimes the old ways are best. Mark your man. If, and this a big if, he can be nullified somewhat on All-Ireland final day that would significantly improve Mayo’s chances of winning the Sam Maguire Cup.
Enda Hession might be the best option to mark him. He is in All-Star form. He has the footwork and football nous for the job at hand.
The problem with playing a team like Kerry is they don’t just have one or two good forwards, all of their forwards are lethal. Dylan Geaney was in All-Star form leading into the semi-final.
He was quiet against Dublin. He scored 0-1. And was pulled off in the second half. It didn’t matter, the others chipped in.
Paudie Clifford scored 0-5, David Clifford scored 1-5 and Seánie O’Shea scored 0-4. In last year’s championship, Kerry scored an average of 28 points per game in the quarter, semi and final.
In this year’s championship they have scored 27.5 points per game in the quarter and semi (31 against Tyrone and 24 against Dublin).
The statistic is exactly the same as Mayo's (23 against Cork and 32 against Louth).
For Mayo, it’s a question of getting the match-ups right. Donnacha McHugh has held his own against David Clifford in the past. Mick Fitzsimons curtailed Clifford in the 2023 final. It can be done. But, the only way to effectively curtail Clifford is to kill the supply.
There has to be massive pressure on their half-backs and midfield when they are kicking and transitioning from deep.
I still have nightmares about Michael Murphy’s goal in the 2012 final after three minutes. Karl Lacey had all the time and the space in the world underneath the Cusack Stand to kick a lovely angled weighted 40-metre pass into Murphy on the turn. If Kerry players get that kind of space in the final, it could be a massacre.
Do we play with a sweeper? Would Diarmuid O’Connor be the man for the job? Using a sweeper against Kerry with the new rules is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. If we play a sweeper, they have an extra man in their own defence.
Croke Park is a big pitch and they have the ball players to really hurt us from deep, create overlaps and kick two-pointers.
Joe O’Connor has awesome strength and power, and is a massive outlet for kickouts. For a big man, he went down a bit too handy for my liking for the penalty against Dublin. Who marks him? David McBrien certainly has the physical strength to compete. Match like with like. And let them at it. Let the best man win.
Gavin White cannot be let take off from deep. He dismantled Donegal in the final last year. Is Sam Callinan the answer? Could Paddy Durcan come off the bench for the last 20 minutes?
For Mayo to win, we will need an impact off the bench. Tommy Conroy and Matthew Ruane could have a decisive impact if they’re introduced at the right time.
The first imperative is not the concession of a goal early doors and the heads dropping. If that is the case and we are still in this game on the 60th minute, and we bring this Kerry team into deep water, I do believe that Kerry could blink first.
Remember who you are. Remember what you are.
Remember that this game at its core is tribal and maybe, just maybe, it might be time to stop knocking on the door and finally kick it down.