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This is what it boils down to.
When the stakes are at their highest, the greatest characters stand tallest.
It was the 72nd minute of the 2011 All-Ireland football final.
Dublin and Kerry had ferociously fought out a battle for the ages.
It was a draw game. It was in the melting pot.
Super-sub Kevin McManamon had exploded into the action on the back of his introduction to the game, but his most important contribution of all was winning a free about 40 yards out from the Kerry goal, and with mere seconds left on the clock.
Croke Park fell silent. Finger nails were being bitten, hearts were racing – apart from Stephen Cluxton’s. He was cool, he was calm and he was collected.
Dublin centre back Ger Brennan felt it.
“With about seven minutes to go, I was starting to feel the pressure.”
The Dublin goalkeeper trotted up the field to line it up.
Score and Dublin would end their 16 year All-Ireland famine, miss and they would have to do it all again in a replay.
If there was one man Pat Gilroy would have chosen for this moment, it was Cluxton.
Cluxton is icy, he is unflinching, he doesn’t feel pressure and Ger Brennan also knew that he was the right man for the job.
“It’s that when the pressurised moments come on, that you’re not fazed by it. You just stay in the zone.”
He slotted it over the bar to send the Croke Park crowd into raptures, as the whole of the capital exploded with joy.
In true Cluxton style, he just ran back to his position as if nothing had happened, and the Dubs held out to defeat the Kindom by the minimum and raise their 23rd Sam Maguire.
Brennan believes that this kick was the kickstart to the golden age of Dublin GAA, that is in full flow now, and is showing absolutely no signs of abating.
“2011 was a psychological breakthrough for Dublin GAA.”
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