Tony Leen: Fossa now building solid scaffolding around their Clifford pillars

Come for the Cliffords, stay for the craic.

The David and Paudie tourist traffic meandered its way from the street theatre on Denny Street up Strand Road on Saturday as Fossa visited Division 1 Kerins O’Rahilly’s. The roping and marshals were fully utilised. 

However, for the locals, the curiosity with Fossa now extends quite a bit beyond their stardusted siblings. Having gone all the way to Croke Park a couple of years ago to life an All-Ireland Junior title, they went to a county IFC final last year before coming up agonisingly shy by the minimum against Milltown-Castlemaine. How high could they fly before the bubble, in all probability on the back of Clifford exhaustion, burst?

All the available evidence would now suggest, not so much.

Where once Fossa’s reliance on the Kerry duo was overwhelming, a couple of high-flying seasons has seen their playing smarts improve and their support acts looking for more work and starting to flourish.

How much of a surprise was Saturday’s 1-14 to 0-13 win over the Tralee men? It says plenty to suggest not that much at all.

From their excellent keeper Shane O’Sullivan who made one pivotal stop from Kerins O’Rahilly’s' Tomas Kennedy, all the way up to their other inside forward, Emmet O’Shea, Fossa had players – obviously enhanced by the coaching of Eamonn Fitzmaurice and Adrian Sheehan – savvy enough to make good decisions in the key moments.

Like when Strand Road kicked the first four points of the second half to turn an interval deficit of seven points (0-4 to 1-8) into a one score game, 0-8 to 1-8. In the final ten minutes, O’Rahillys again reduced it to a three-point game, 0-11 to 1-11 and though Fossa’s restarts got a bit wobbly, they still kicked the next three points to ease into another semi – none of which, by the by, came from a Clifford.

Before anyone gets the idea that Fossa’s finest were passengers in Strand Road, David kicked five points, and Paudie controlled the game’s tempo so deliciously, one wondered where he was hiding the baton. He also kicked a brace of points in a man of the match display that ranged from square to square and at al points between. No wonder he celebrated so raucously at the final whistle.

Said manager Sheehan: “When we won the All-Ireland, the average age was around 21, but last year and this year playing in Division 2, lads are gaining experience. The core of the team is now around 24 or 25, so we are getting good decision-making. 

"Playing at a higher level improves that. We keep banging onto the lads in training too that we can’t leave it up to the two lads, there is no point in being there if they are not going to stand up and be counted.

“Our championship target from the outset was the get to another final, whether we are good enough to get there, we will see next week. We have confidence in ourselves, and we are not fazed by anybody.” 

Rian Colleran, the full back, popped up with a point, as did wing back Danny O’Keeffe. Kudos too to midfielder Cian O’Shea, who landed two key scores when the tide was beginning to turn blue. They also introduced Fintan Coffey late doors to keep Tommy Walsh in check. The Strand Road giant didn’t start the game, but his second half introduction clearly changed the tempo of the game and the hosts’ intent. Jack Savage kicked nine points for the Tralee men, but those around him up front operated on the fringes of the game rather than shaping it. A switch around at the break, with Cormac Coffey playing a more advanced role too, certainly helped, but there will be no immediate return to the senior grade for the Strand Road men in 2025.

Glenbeigh-Glencar edged Beaufort in a surprise quarter final result, while Glenflesk meet Laune Rangers and Austin Stacks host Legion in the other pre-Daithi Festival of Tralee highlight on Sunday. None of the other semi-finalists can take Fossa lightly now.

Keel referee Billy O’Shea took an unfair share of Strand Road abuse over the hour but his handling of the game was generally authoritative. He was wrong to send Kerins O’Rahilly’s Darragh O’Connor off for some late retaliation – the Fossa player may be nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures for an award – but the official was then subjected to some hot-headed frustration from the home sideline after the final whistle. In the heat of the moment, kudos to the calm authority and class of Tommy Walsh who ushered away his errant colleagues from shouting their way into more trouble than a Championship exit.

Late on, Fossa had a clear opportunity to put the game well out of Strand Road’s reach, a coast-to-coast breakaway that culminated in a relatively easy finish for one David Clifford. That he turned away with his head in his hands after hitting the keeper instead of the net is one thing.

Of greater significance is that it didn’t matter.