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17th September 2019
09:44am BST

"You would not get a goal like that against Dublin...
"Good defence is very rarely about being good defensively in a one-on-one situation, because good forwards, even an average forward against the best defender in the country, if they get ball in hand, they'll be able to score. Give them ten balls, they'll kick five. You're talking about the best forwards, so you can understand why they're spooked but they were all culpable," added Ward.
At the moment, Mick Fitzsimons is the standard bearer for defenders everywhere. That's because he's a defender, more so than a marker. The Cuala man plays for the team. His game is for Dublin to concede the least amount of scores possible, rather than keeping his marker scoreless.
https://twitter.com/TheGAAHour/status/1173645521795342336
"Clifford got four from play. He was being marked by Mick Fitzsimons. But Fitzsimons had a phenomenal game. He leaves Clifford, to block the danger, to block somebody going down the centre. He's making the calculation because he's an intelligent footballer and he's around a long time and he understands the game, that there's no point in me following Clifford here and Stephen O'Brien runs down the middle and sticks it in the net..."
"That's the difference," added Conan Doherty. "Fitzsimons in the first half nails Stephen O'Brien. He'd rolled his man and was in behind, Fitzsimons just leaves Clifford and nails him, stops a goal chance. In the second half, he nailed Sean O'Shea when he got in behind Sean O'Shea.
"The two first points that Clifford got, came because Fitzsimons was doubled up on O'Brien on another occasion and then he followed Sean O'Shea who was in behind. If he had stayed with Clifford, Sean O'Shea was in. He's sacrificing his own stats for the good of the team.
And that's why Fitzsimons was nominated for man-of-the-match, despite Clifford getting four from play.
You can watch The GAA Hour All-Ireland final show here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PIWjD-hQC8
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