Kerry v Galway, All-Ireland Senior Football Final. 24 July, 2022

[Armamike]

While Walsh was immense, Galway never managed to get anything from Comer.  He needed to be on the ball a lot more in dangerous areas.
Kerry the best team this year.

[gallsman]

Wasn't a free at all. Hospital pass put McDaid in trouble and he got hit fairly on one side and then the other. Wasn't a sandwich.

Need to see free in for Spillane again. Seemed a bit harsh but certainly wasn't a free out. Spillane played the ball and then held his ground.

[Milltown Row2]

Wasn't a free at all. Hospital pass put McDaid in trouble and he got hit fairly on one side and then the other. Wasn't a sandwich.

Need to see free in for Spillane again. Seemed a bit harsh but certainly wasn't a free out. Spillane played the ball and then held his ground.

Yes I can see both points on that 'double shoulder' the simple solution would have been stop play (Galway had the ball, I think) due to head injury, his head looked to have collided with the Kerry man, not sure if a double shoulder sandwich is allowed lol

[yellowcard]

In terms of pure aesthetics Shane Walsh is the most natural talent in the game but doesn't always deliver the performance that his talent deserves. He reminds me of a more powerful athletic version of Maurice Fitz. Today he stood up in a big way for Galway and was immense despite being faced with Kerry's best defender.

Clifford doesn't look as natural but he is more effective and has no real obvious weakness. He has everything you would look for in a Gaelic footballer and could go on to be the best ever. However he is 23 years old and has so much more to be achieved before he can be put in that category. But yet again he stood up and was counted when needed. It was very hard to separate those 2 players today but I'd have to give MOTM to Clifford for no other reason that he was on the winning side. Notable mention to McDaid as well who was excellent.

Quite a statement. I'm not sure I've ever seen a footballer as natural. Everything seems so languid and easy to him. It's like talking about somebody with a perfect golf swing, but they could play both left and right handed.

Yes but a large part of his ability is his physical size and power to hold off opposing defenders that help buy him that extra yard of space. That's not natural ability in a footballing sense. With Shane Walsh and Maurice Fitz I honestly couldn't tell whether they were stronger on their left or right foot, David Clifford on the other hand is more obviously a left footed kicker. If you are using the golf swing analogy I think they are nearer the perfect swing. But as an overall package neither are/were as effective since I think Clifford is certainly the best player in the game at the minute.

I would be interested to know if his skills were naturally obvious from an early age or honed through countless hours of practice.

[Captain Obvious]

In terms of pure aesthetics Shane Walsh is the most natural talent in the game but doesn’t always deliver the performance that his talent deserves. He reminds me of a more powerful athletic version of Maurice Fitz. Today he stood up in a big way for Galway and was immense despite being faced with Kerry’s best defender.

Clifford doesn’t look as natural but he is more effective and has no real obvious weakness. He has everything you would look for in a Gaelic footballer and could go on to be the best ever. However he is 23 years old and has so much more to be achieved before he can be put in that category. But yet again he stood up and was counted when needed. It was very hard to separate those 2 players today but I’d have to give MOTM to Clifford for no other reason that he was on the winning side. Notable mention to McDaid as well who was excellent.

I recall Shane Walsh standing out in a Hogan cup final around 10 years ago and thinking Galway had a real gem on their hands. Today in the biggest game of his career he stood up and showed the GAA world what he is capable of.

As for David Clifford he's simply brought his underage talent into senior without any trouble and one of the most consistent and skilful forwards in the game. The type of player neutrals will pay good money to see and won't be left disappointed.

[ONeill]

Walsh got no help atall from the other 5 forwards when he needed it. Think only one scored outside of him. All Kerry's starters scored as well as some replacements.

[Blowitupref]

From Gaastatsman

[galwayman]

In terms of pure aesthetics Shane Walsh is the most natural talent in the game but doesn't always deliver the performance that his talent deserves. He reminds me of a more powerful athletic version of Maurice Fitz. Today he stood up in a big way for Galway and was immense despite being faced with Kerry's best defender.

Clifford doesn't look as natural but he is more effective and has no real obvious weakness. He has everything you would look for in a Gaelic footballer and could go on to be the best ever. However he is 23 years old and has so much more to be achieved before he can be put in that category. But yet again he stood up and was counted when needed. It was very hard to separate those 2 players today but I'd have to give MOTM to Clifford for no other reason that he was on the winning side. Notable mention to McDaid as well who was excellent.

I recall Shane Walsh standing out in a Hogan cup final around 10 years ago and thinking Galway had a real gem on their hands. Today in the biggest game of his career he stood up and showed the GAA world what he is capable of.

As for David Clifford he's simply brought his underage talent into senior without any trouble and one of the most consistent and skilful forwards in the game. The type of player neutrals will pay good money to see and won't be left disappointed.

True. We were on the receiving end today but Clifford is just pure quality and a joy to watch.
Shane in full flight is a sight to behold also.

[Blowitupref]

David Clifford named the RTÉ man of match. Out of interest who got it on Sky?

[JoG2]

Enjoyed the game, Walsh and Clifford are a joy to watch, incredible footballers. Hurson is a superb ref.

[OrchardOrange]

David Clifford named the RTÉ man of match. Out of interest who got it on Sky?

Hmmmmm... I wonder....? 

[Milltown Row2]

3/1 was a good shout from someone earlier on

[onefineday]

As good as Walsh was today - and he was surreally brilliant, maybe among the top 5 AI final performances I've ever seen - if anyone describes his performance as streets ahead of Clifford, it's only because they're marking Clifford by a different criteria.

The difference between the teams was David Clifford. It's not more complicated than that. He was outstanding.

Agree with that. Both exceptional performances, but for Clifford it was maybe 15% better than what we normally see, for Walsh it was significantly more, 75%??
I would also agree that I think both, especially Clifford ran out of juice a bit before the end. He very noticeably not busting a gut to get back up front on a few occasions in the last 15 - hardly surprising given the disrupted preparation he must have had.

[Rossfan]

Enjoyed the game, Walsh and Clifford are a joy to watch, incredible footballers. Hurson is a superb ref.

Hurson had a good game  but it was a relatively easy game to ref.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Enjoyed the game, Walsh and Clifford are a joy to watch, incredible footballers. Hurson is a superb ref.

Hudson had a good game  but it was a relatively easy game to ref.

Who?

Re the result, it was a fair reflection on Kerry's superiority over the 70 minutes, and agree that ultimately Clifford was the difference between them, a class act (the undeniable brilliance of Shane Walsh notwithstanding).