By Cian O’Connell
Ultimately moments win matches and medals. That was the case on a compelling September Saturday evening in 2019 when the old foes, Dublin and Kerry, collided at the Jones Road venue.
A first half for the ages when 20 points were divided equally confirmed the health of Dublin and Kerry. Delicately poised it most certainly was at the turnaround.
After the restart, though, the complexion altered dramatically when Eoin Murchan dashed through to supply a critical goal.
“Yeah, listen it was a great set move from the throw-in,” Jim Gavin reflected in an understated and unfussy way immediately after the game.
Murchan’s emergence in recent years illustrated what Gavin always sought to do during his tenure: introduce new and emerging talent.
The major set Dublin on their way to a fifth All Ireland title on the spin. “Really well executed by the team collective you'd have to say,” Gavin added.
“A really nice execution at the end of the move by Eoin. I've seen it before from him, don't think anybody was surprised when it hit the net. You are surprised maybe to get that space from the opening play.
“Eoin did really well, he really committed himself, it is what you see from them when you are with them that often. They all have jobs to do, when we meet it is very brief. So your time is precious with them, but they are a great team, great men to work with.”
Dublin’s leader, talisman, and captain Stephen Cluxton did his bit too making a critical save to thwart Stephen O’Brien.
The Dublin and Kerry teams before the 2019 All Ireland SFC Final replay at Croke Park.
When the game was over and Cluxton had the Sam Maguire Cup hoisted, Gavin acknowledged the relevance of the intervention.
“That’s the result of hundreds of hours,” Gavin stressed. “I’ve seen that, if you look back on his stance, that’s not the first time I’ve seen that.
“Josh Moran, his goalkeeping coach, and the goalkeeping coaches that have worked with him deserve credit for that. That’s something that you see replicated. I saw it earlier on this week.
“I saw it the day after the replay, him spending two hours on the pitch with Evan Comerford and Michael Shields from Sylvester’s, the goalkeeping coach.
“The three of them working on trying to rectify his positioning for Killian Spillane’s goal in the first game.
“So that’s someone who’s dedicated to their craft, and the result of that is what you see in those clutch moments, to have that composure to make himself big and strong and just do his job. That’s what Stephen does – he does his job.”
Examining previous matches carries importance according to Gavin. “He had a laptop, trying to replay in slow motion what way his feet and positioning were,” Gavin remarked.
“That somebody who’s a master of his craft. Through that example, he inspires people around him.
“Stephen is well able to talk, he’s very articulate and people listen. But how he demonstrates, his actions, that’s what I’m interested in. That’s what he does. He’s a do-er.”
Eoin Murchan netted the decisive goal for Dublin against Kerry.
Kerry manager Peter Keane accepted it was a key contribution from Cluxton just as Kerry wanted to pose some stern questions again.
"When we had the goal chance ourselves what were we down a few points,” Keane lamented. “If you had taken that ... we had chances we just didn’t convert them.
"I suppose, look we were there in the first half and were chasing it a bit, we were down at one stage in that first half and got it back to equal at half-time.
"The goal, I suppose, wasn’t part of the plan after half time but we worked our way back to two points again. We had a few chances after that, but I suppose we were stretching it at all times there."
Becoming the first team to win five senior men’s All Ireland champions in a row was a significant achievement, but Gavin kept such talk away from the camp.
“I haven't really thought about it like that,” Gavin responded when asked about making history. “It is a fact, I'm not denying that it is a fact. It is great for the county, but our primary aim was to get a performance.
“I'm not trying to dismiss it in any shape or form, it is phenomenal for Dublin GAA for this to happen, but when you are going into a game like this you have to focus on trying to get your game plan, game and process right.
“That is what delivers a performance like you saw. The result is the outcome of that. Obviously it is a fantastic honour for Dublin, absolutely.”
A memorable encounter was decided by splendid flashes of brilliance.
