We are living in a phenomenon: the Clifford Age
Declan Bogue
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, the excitement was building around Tyrone.
An All-Ireland quarter-final. A morale building win against Mayo achieved in dramatic circumstances. A decent crowd snaking their way down through Monaghan towards Jones’ Road.
All to see – well, there’s no easy way to say it, but in descending order: 1. David Clifford, and 2. Tyrone’s chances of reaching the last four of the All-Ireland.
Blame the TikTokification and the YouTube Shortification of the youth. This is a generation that follow the players just as much, if not more than their forefathers and mothers. How else can you explain the prevalence of Al Nassar geansaís around the place?
There will always be the partisans, but this is an age of the individual. As Thatcher told us, there is no such thing as society.
Last year, Clifford was the top championship scorer with 8-62. An average of 9.55 points per game, miles beyond his next challenger Seán O’Shea on 1-50, 6.62 points per game with one game less played.
When they played Tyrone and beat them 1-20 to 0-17 in last year’s semi-final, Clifford was responsible for 1-9 of it.
Tyrone were in with a chance when they narrowed the gap to one point in the second half, but then Kerry knocked them for nine consecutive points to lead by 10. Clifford hit three of them.
Moving back to the 2023 quarter-final, Kerry prevailed on a 2-18 to 0-12 score, Clifford being relatively quiet with just (for him) 0-5.
Over the last three seasons, his graph has had a spike upwards.
It leaves every opposition spending a lot of time thinking about him. Who can mark him? How can they mark him? With double-teaming a risk you cannot take in the 11 v 11 world we inhabit, it seems most teams are aiming to keep him to around 0-7.
In previous years, the task fell to Padraig Hampsey. The two met in 2021 when Clifford helped himself to 0-8, three of them frees and one from an offensive mark in a game that went to extra-time.
But Clifford played no part in the extra-time, having been helped off the field at full-time with his calf cramping. His replacement was Paul Geaney, an able body for sure but without the presence of Clifford on the pitch, the opposition grow in stature.
Who would mark him here, given that Hampsey has not played for Tyrone in 2026?
The task fell to Cormac Quinn.
We will just take a brief interlude to explain our thinking here. A reader might justly ask why we are heading for another deep cut from the Clifford groove when there were others worth looking at such as Dylan Geaney, or the majestic Darren McCurry with his 0-10 compiled in half an hour.
And it’s simple. Clifford was the top scorer in this game with 1-8. He set the tone early on. He set up the goal that was the final dagger in Tyrone’s heart.
And at all times in between, he walked around Croke Park with the same mastery of his surroundings as Lionel Messi, choosing when to make his interventions.
He made 28 plays in this game; 12 in the first half, 16 in the second.
From those, he scored from eight possessions.
His first two were possessions that he laid off.
His third, he combined with Dylan Geaney to play the final pass to Paul Geaney who was denied a goal.
His fourth was when he let the ball roll through his legs, flummoxing marker Quinn before pivoting around, chipping the ball up and lifting his shot over the attempted block.
The next one he presented around the corner for the ball and kicked another.
And for his next trick he showed his athleticism in burning by Quinn to fist over the bar.
This brings us up to his next touch. Gavin White was playing a weak pass which Quinn looked certain to intercept. Clifford attacked the ball like he was a defender himself. His momentum took him towards goal and away from Quinn instantly. He took a bounce and then side footed the ball beyond Niall Morgan.
At this point, the Tyrone management acted. They switched Niall Devlin, who had been marking Paul Geaney, onto Clifford.
In his first couple of seasons, Devlin established himself as the main marker on the Tyrone team. With more confidence and experience, he showed he was a serious asset further outfield.
As a defender he has a remarkable ability to stand side-on to a forward. It is a clever but difficult thing to achieve.
It also took Clifford a little time to size up. After the switch, Clifford came out around the two-point arc to take a shot. Devlin blocked it down.
Come the start of the second half he had a whirl at a two-pointer that flew wide. He laid off his next one.
His third chance he was presented with a free after referee Paddy Neilan moved the ball up after Seán O’Brien caught a Kerry kickout. He nailed it and raised the orange flag.
We don’t need to go through the rest of his plays, but you get the picture.
We will mention the quick-thinking sideline he took on 50 minutes that generated a spurned goal chance for Dylan Geaney.
When Eoin McElholm scored to leave a point in it approaching the hour mark, Clifford fisted over two points in two minutes to keep their noses in front.
From the final kickout, the ball broke to Clifford. He recycled it with Armin Heinrich. In the same sequence, he played in Heinrich for the second goal.
So there you have it. 1-8 scored. Three goal chances created with one converted. And a point created for his brother Paudie that we didn’t even mention.
Clifford is now in a plain so high that when he gets the ball, a low ripple of a jeer can be heard if he doesn’t score from every single possession.
We are living in the Clifford Age.
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