David Clifford explains why Kerry changed tactics for All-Ireland title run-in
Kerry bagged their 39th All-Ireland SFC title this summer, beating Donegal by 1-26 to 0-19 at Croke Park last month.
The run-in also featured impressive wins in the quarters and semis, against Armagh and Tyrone, respectively.
In particular, Seanie O’Shea and David Clifford made hay with the new two-point rule, with the latter scoring the first ever in an All-Ireland final, and a crucial one just on the stroke of half-time against Donegal.
However, during their league campaign, the Kingdom had not been utilising the new rule to full effect, and in an interview with the Irish Independent, Clifford has explained why.
He said: “Yeah, throughout the league it was week to week games, so it’s kind of hard to work on anything because you’re kind of just recovering from the games so we didn’t put massive attention on two-pointers.
“As the weather got better and the ball was travelling a bit further through the air, we kind of worked on them a bit. Still, probably hitting the net is a bit different than a two-pointer. It just gives you a nice lift if you can hit the net. But the two-pointers ended up, in the end we started to work on them. Throughout the summer, as the ball was travelling a bit further, it became a bit easier.”
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