“I’m going to back my two old team-mates to do that.” – Andrews explains where Dublin have edge on Kerry

SportsJOE

By Paul Keane

Paddy Andrews has backed Dublin’s ‘marquee’ midfield pairing to provide a ‘massive platform’ which tips the All-Ireland final their way.

The seven-time Sam Maguire Cup winner has tipped his native county to dethrone Kerry and to return to the Championship’s summit.

Andrews acknowledged that Kerry possess a player in David Clifford who will probably kick ‘three or four points’, even on a bad day.

And he conceded that the Munster champions have their own in-form midfield pairing in Diarmuid O’Connor and Jack Barry.

But the ex-attacker is adamant that Dublin enjoy a vital edge in the crucial middle third in ultra experienced duo James McCarthy and Brian Fenton which can prove decisive.

“I think Dublin are going to win the game,” said Andrews at the launch of AIB’s All-Ireland final ticket giveaway.

“I think it’s going to be incredibly tight and I think the midfield battle, like, we talk about Con O’Callaghan and David Clifford, but I think midfield is a massive, massive battleground.

“To be fair to the Kerry midfield, Diarmuid O’Connor and Jack Barry, they were probably written off a little bit, maybe harshly criticised before coming into the All-Ireland series.

“But they dealt with an incredible midfield that Tyrone have, Conn Kilpatrick and Brian Kennedy. Diarmuid O’Connor probably gave his standout performance in a Kerry jersey that day, and then they’re coming up against another marquee midfield pairing in the semi-final in Conor Glass and Brendan Rogers.

“Again, the guys do a brilliant job there. Rogers kicked a couple of points but really that’s only when Diarmuid O’Connor got his black card and went off for 10 minutes.

“The Kerry guys are coming up against another marquee pairing now in James McCarthy and Brian Fenton so they’ve performed really, really well and they’ve been key to Kerry’s run to the final but with McCarthy and Fenton.

“And the form the guys are in as well, like, we know their pedigree and that they’ve been iconic players over the last decade.

“I think if Dublin can get the edge there, not only does it allow Dublin to attack really quickly and to try to get at that Kerry defence which has struggled with teams running at them directly, that’s the reality if you look at the Mayo game, if you look at the Derry game in the first-half in particular, I think if Dublin can get a handle on that and come out on top around the middle it gives them a massive platform to attack.

“Also, it slows down Kerry’s transition up the pitch and slows the ball getting inside to David Clifford.

“I think a key part of what Dublin will do is try to cut off the supply to David Clifford and get bodies around him. It won’t be just Michael Fitzsimons, or whoever is picked to mark him, it’ll be bodies and I think that midfield battle then is key.

“If Dublin can get on top there, and I think they will, I’m going to back my two old team-mates to do that, I think that could give Dublin a platform to win this game.”

Andrews, who lined out in the 2015 final win over Kerry, and featured in the 2013 and 2016 semi-final wins, believes that Fitzsimons will be tasked with tracking Clifford.

“It’s not Michael Fitzsimons’ first rodeo either, he’s marked Clifford before,” noted Andrews of what he termed ‘a pivotal battle’.

He described Seanie O’Shea, Paudie Clifford and Paul Geaney as ‘exceptional players’ for Kerry too, though pointed to O’Callaghan and Cormac Costello as similar threats in Dublin’s attack.

What the final offers, according to Andrews, is the opportunity for any of those players, or their colleagues, to etch their names in history.

“Legacies are built on games like this and particularly between Dublin and Kerry,” he said. “Look at someone like Kevin McManamon for us, he was a massive player for us in games between Dublin and Kerry. He’s had iconic moments and gone down in history for Dublin with what he did in these types of games.

“Stephen Cluxton and what he did in 2011, Seanie O’Shea last year, kicking one of the most iconic frees since Cluxton probably 11 years earlier. So this game, not just this All-Ireland final, but Dublin v Kerry, it creates heroes and creates legacies and that’s the opportunity for these players on Sunday to go and do that. It might be David Clifford but with my Dublin hat on I’m hoping it’s some player in blue.”

Watch our All-Ireland hurling final review show with Davy Fitzgerald right here.