Clifford brothers to the fore as Fossa make history

Fossa's David Clifford ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Fossa have been promoted to the Kerry senior football ranks for the first time after David and Paudie Clifford inspired them to a 0-26 to 0-22 victory over Kilcummin in an exciting IFC club final at Fitzgerald Stadium.

Reigning Footballer of the Year maintained his remarkable recent scoring form with a haul of 0-15 (3x 2pts, 2 x 2ptfs and 2fs), while Paudie chipped in with 0-4 as Fossa made amends for their final losses in 2023 and ’25.  Seeking their first intermediate title since 2018, Kilcummin led by 0-8 to 0-4 midway through the first half thanks to scores from Mikey Casey, Philip O’Leary, Mark O’Shea, goalkeeper Brendan Kealy (’45) and a pair of Paul O’Shea two-pointers.

But the winners rallied with points from David Clifford, James Williams, Ted O’Gorman, Eoin Talbot and a Paudie Clifford two-pointer to trail 0-10 to 0-12 at the break.

Fossa turned up the heat after the restart to open up a 0-20 to 0-16 lead by the end of the third quarter. Kilcummin substitute Matt Keane reduced the deficit to the minimum, 0-21 to 0-22, with eight minutes remaining, but Fossa weren’t to be denied as David Clifford’s third two-pointer put them three up and on the road to an historic victory.