Galway’s Matthew Tierney and Kerry’s David Clifford set to renew stellar rivalry

Strictly speaking, Matthew Tierney and David Clifford finished the year tied in their All-Ireland head-to-head, a win apiece.

On a God-awful night of gusting wind and pelting rain in Carlow, last February, Tierney and NUI Galway edged out Clifford’s UL in the Electric Ireland Sigerson Cup final.

It turned out to be one of the very few disappointments that eventual Footballer of the Year Clifford would experience in a remarkable 2022 that climaxed with the July All-Ireland final defeat of Tierney’s Galway.

We were four points off it in the end last season so we have a bit to learn

—  Matthew Tierney

It is, of course, an All-Ireland stalemate in name only with Clifford — still going on the junior club scene with Fossa — luxuriating in his status as a Sam Maguire Cup winner all winter while Tierney and Pádraic Joyce rack their brains to figure out how to decipher the Kingdom code.

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“We were four points off it in the end last season so we have a bit to learn,” acknowledged Tierney.

Still, if 2022 belonged to Kerry then Galway made up the most ground of any county at the head of the national power rankings, perhaps leaping as many as six or seven places up to the penultimate position.

They reached the final of every competition they entered, winning the pre-season Connacht League, securing promotion to Division One, claiming the Connacht title and bridging a 21-year gap by contesting the All-Ireland decider.

“It was a great year,” said Tierney. “We had a great bond this year. I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in any other team that had the bond that we had. So, I’m hopeful there because that’s a really important part of it. It adds an awful lot to your game on the field, to be honest, when you fight for your mates, not just your team-mates. You are good friends with them. I spend a lot of time with all the lads, outside of training. I think we knew we’d go far enough with the bond we had.

“It is hard to put your finger on it, why we clicked like that. We all get along, the older lads, the younger lads. It was just a good year and hopefully, we push on next year.”

Tierney only has to look at his personal arc to be confident it will continue to surge upwards.

He bookended the 2020 calendar year with All-Ireland wins for his club, Oughterard, and county, the Galway U-20s. The following year he scored 1-3 on his senior Championship debut against Roscommon and was man of the match and 2022, well, take your pick from captaining NUI Galway — now the University of Galway — to the Sigerson Cup or his winning penalty for Galway which saw off Armagh in a remarkable All-Ireland quarter-final penalty shoot-out.

“Great game, an absolute classic,” smiled Tierney of that epic encounter. “I’ve watched that game back a load of times.”

For analysis or pleasure?

Then it was on to face Kerry and another All-Ireland showdown with Clifford

“A bit of both,” he said. “Sure if you’re feeling down, that’s a good one to watch. It was just a back-and-forth. Cillian McDaid dug us out in extra time thank God, he got the goal and then kicked the crazy point from out of nowhere to bring it to penalties.”

Tierney then held his nerve to slot Galway’s fourth penalty in a 4-1 win. A little piece of Championship history and a large piece of personal satisfaction.

“Some people hate them, some people love them, I definitely enjoy the penalties,” he said. “Some say it’s a lottery but there’s a good bit of skill and mind games in it as well. I enjoy them. That’s easy to say when you score them I suppose, when you miss them it’s another story.”

The semi-final win over Derry was a whole different ball game.

“It was a lot worse match, that’s for sure, from a spectator point of view,” he suggested. “But we did what had to be done. We set ourselves up a different way and Damien Comer was the difference in that game. He chipped the goalie from 40 yards.”

Then it was on to face Kerry and another All-Ireland showdown with Clifford. Unlike the Sigerson decider, Clifford engineered the win this time, curling over a point from a controversially awarded 67th-minute free which, in hindsight, broke Galway’s brave challenge. They lost by four in the end.

One they left behind?

“A tough game, but sure Kerry are brilliant too,” shrugged Tierney. “I can’t dwell on it. Just learn from it, learn from it as much as we can and push it on. There’s no point looking back, we have to get better.”