Advertisement League of Ireland Horse Racing TV Listings GAA Fixtures The Video Review Sport meets news, current affairs, society & pop culture Rugby Weekly Extra Dive into all the news and analysis 3 times a week The Football Family Weekly insights from the week’s big talking points Advertisement More Stories Kevin McStay.Ryan Byrne/INPHO FreeSOFT FREES 'I thought today he got well looked after' - McStay questions David Clifford treatment by ref Mayo manager feels Kerry star ‘Is so clever at making sure the picture that the referee sees is an excellent picture’. 7.29pm, 30 Mar 2025 Share options Declan Bogue Reports from Croke Park MAYO MANAGER KEVIN MCSTAY has questioned the protection Kerry forward David Clifford had in the Allianz Division 1 league final. Marked at various stages by each of the Mayo full-back line, his most regular opponent was Donnacha McHugh, who was called for three personal fouls on the Fossa player. McStay suggested that Clifford’s game intelligence allows him to give the impression he is being fouled. “He’s a fabulous player, we’ll all agree on that. But if you see the camera angles I’ll be looking at now Monday and Tuesday from behind (the goals), he is so clever at making sure the picture that the referee sees is an excellent picture for him (Clifford),” said McStay. “He can’t always be out in front, nature doesn’t allow that, he can’t be out in front for every ball. I’d feel Donnacha was excellent, I’d give him a really good shot. I want to be careful because I really like him (Clifford) as a player, I think he’s a fabulous player in the game, but I thought today he got well looked after. “I have to say, I love him as a player and all that, but Donnacha’s jersey must be resistant to pulling all together, I don’t know.” Advertisement He added, “I think David Coldrick is obviously a fabulous referee too, but the tackle (free) count, I think it was 13-1 at one stage. I thought we could tackle, that was the last time I checked, we’re a good tackling team. David Clifford.James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO “So that’s something, maybe we’ll have to work on that too and tidy it up, maybe we’re not presenting good pictures to the refs of our tackle. I’ve said that about David now and you’re (the assembled media) all going to jump off, that’s not what I’m saying, I have huge respect for him, but it has to be a two-way street when these big battles are, he’s six foot two or three, come on, is it a man’s game?” Clifford scored 0-8, four from play and four from frees, three of the frees he was personally fouled for. Mayo goalkeeper Colm Reape also went into David Coldrick’s book for a yellow card after he shouldered Clifford out of his road when trying to take a kickout. Mayo also switched the marking on Clifford, trying Jack Coyne and Enda Hession at various stages, with McStay noting, “When you have 40-50 minutes done on David Clifford, you’ve got a couple of days’ work done, he asks so many questions. “We changed it up a few times and they all did fine, inside the three is nearly man to man. It’s very hard to get coverage in there, especially on the solo and go, especially on the quick transitions, very hard to get any sort of coverage. “You do your best on David as you can, but I think if you minimise him. Five wides, four from play is about as good as, maybe three, four from play is not a bad target. Good goal chance blocked as well, well saved actually. He’s a handful, two handfuls.” McStay also ridiculed the commentary around Mayo topping the league with a negative points difference. “I saw that comment, that we topped the league on minus one, and that seemed to be a hilarious moment for those commenting on us. Did anyone look at who was one of the top defensive teams in the league? That was us,” he said. “We’re a good defence. We take our defence very, very seriously, and that’s why the tackle count, or the free count, was surprising to me. And I say that with complete respect to the people involved in it. “David Coldrick is a top, top ref, obviously. But, you know, if your defence is pretty good, you can hold tight enough scores. What was the final score for Kerry? 1-18. That’s manageable if you’re getting enough at the other end.” As for the manager taking home the silverware, there was one element that certainly didn’t escape Jack O’Connor. Jack O'Connor.James Lawlor / INPHO James Lawlor / INPHO / INPHO “Any day you come up here and get silverware, it’s good. Nice that it’s the Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh trophy as well. We didn’t do a lot of talking about it but looking at it now, it’s nice that we won the inaugural one,” O’Connor said. Related Reads Jack O'Connor: 'We’ve gone seven games in eight weeks, which is bonkers for amateur players' Who's left celebrating a good GAA football league and who has all the regrets? Late drama as Mayo go from relegation scare to league final with defeat of Donegal “Now, I wouldn’t be giving us too much kudos. I thought we were average at times but we managed to raise our game then when we needed to. But for today it was good enough.” Across this campaign, Kerry used 34 players, which seasoned observers would note is high for Kerry. But also fairly consistent with the other teams in the top flight, perhaps owing to the structure of the season and the changing nature of the game. Asked what they need ahead of the summer, the Dromid man replied, “I think we’ll need to get our players back, you know what I mean? As I said earlier, that performance was good enough for today but I don’t think it’ll be good enough down the line. There are an awful lot of good teams going to be here at the business end of the year and we’re hoping to be one of them. “But I think we need a bit of improvement on that. We need to get the Seán O’Shea, the Diarmuid O’Connors and these fellas back because they are some of the best players in the country in their positions. So, great credit to the lads that we’ve used all along and some of the new lads that came in. But no team can afford to lose big players like that.” Declan Bogue View 7 comments Send Tip or Correction Embed this post To embed this post, copy the code below on your site Email “'I thought today he got well looked after' - McStay questions David Clifford treatment by ref”. Recipient's Email Feedback on “'I thought today he got well looked after' - McStay questions David Clifford treatment by ref”. Your Feedback Your Email (optional) Report a Comment Please select the reason for reporting this comment. Please give full details of the problem with the comment... 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