It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
David Reidy may be small in stature, but by God, the player of the Hurling League so far is big in heart. The Éire Óg Ennis club man has been on top form for the Banner seniors so far this year.
With his jet-like acceleration and blinding pace, he’s left many a defender trailing in his wake. As the spoilers desperately chase his fledgling and elusive tail, the half forward’s short but explosive strides open up more of a gap between him and them.
Within seconds, he’s in acres of space on his own and in front of the goals. With a flick of those silky wrists he taps it over the bar or another drive and bang and it’s in the back of the net. He’s scored 2-14 in three games so far.
You couldn’t have a team full of David Reidys. But you need a David Reidy or two in your team.
Clare have struck that balance, between physical and diminutive players, and Reidy is revelling in it. Clare are revelling.
The balance is that they’ve big, burly, aerially profound players like John Conlon, Peter Duggan and Niall Deasy knocking around under the high balls. When the ball breaks off them, it’s David Reidy’s time.
Like a lamb walking along a ditch, searching for the gap to break into the next field, Reidy prowls. When the ball breaks he jumps out through the ditch and takes off.
It was ideal that we had Brendan Bugler on The GAA Hour Hurling Show on Monday – two former wing backs – and they discussed the danger posed by this man and how they’d go about stopping him.
David Reidy is class to watch. One of the main men now #gaabeo
— Paddy Stapleton (@pasaint) February 18, 2018
“He’s having a blinder of a year,” began Bugler.
“He’s feeding off John Conlon, and he’s feeding off Peter Duggan breaking the balls to him. He has that special gift, which is pace, and as soon as he gets that ball into his hand, he’s gone and nobody can match him.”
“He’s actually a phenomenal soccer player. Soccer was his first love, but I suppose he made the decision a couple of years ago to go down the hurling route but he’s taking that pace he had as a striker and putting it to good effect on the hurling field.”
Former Dublin number five Carton mused about tugging his jersey and pulling him back as a method of stopping him in his tracks. Many small players wouldn’t know how to respond to this.
Brendan Bugler has tried that before, Reidy made damn sure he didn’t try it again.
Clare seal victory in Ennis with this David Reidy goal pic.twitter.com/BQ7Ga78ZBk
— The GAA (@officialgaa) January 28, 2018
“Lads trust me, trust me, there’s no point in trying to hold on to him, because one thing Reido has as well is he’s bould. If you try hold onto his jersey, he’ll hit you back.
“All of the great forwards have that kind of bite. Reido won’t allow a lad bully him, a lot of backs think you’re going to bully this guy, that guy – you’re not going to bully David Reidy, trust me, I’ve tried it in club games, I’ve tried it in training, he’s just so hard to mark. That’s one thing I love about Reidy, is that fight and that bite that he has.”
Reidy himself was on The GAA Hour Hurling Show recently, and he firmly believes that being small is no excuse for lads not to win their own ball.
“There’s no excuse for any so-called smaller players not to win their own ball. Even if it’s not a clean catch or a straight out first possession, there’s no reason why we can’t bring it to the ground, and that’s where we should be thriving. You need a mixture of both,” said Reidy.
You can listen to the Reidy love-in and much more from Monday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show.
