Jim Gavin: Stephen Cluxton is a master of his craft

The drive for five is complete, and even Jim Gavin could afford a smile at full-time. The Round Towers man has led the team to where no side has gone before.

Since he took over, his captain Stephen Cluxton has been a constant between the sticks, and he reserved special praise for the Parnells man.

“That’s the result of hundreds of hours,” he said of Cluxton’s second-half save on Stephen O’Brien.

“I’ve seen that, if you look back on his stance, that’s not the first time I’ve seen that.

“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.”

Despite playing a starring role in the drawn game in which he saved a penalty and made a number of other crucial interjections, Cluxton was still kicking himself for the concession of the goal to Killian Spillane.

“He had a bloody laptop, trying to replay in slow motion what way his feet and positioning were,” laughed Gavin.

“That’s 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.”

For Gavin and Dublin, they’ve created history, and Sam Maguire will winter on the banks of the Liffey for a fifth consecutive year.

“I know how much it meant to the people of Dublin, the people who support the team,” noted the manager.

“I’m just delighted for the players really. When there was questions asked of them in both games that they were able to come up with the answers. Whatever about reputations and what people from the outside think of them, they really showed their character for me over the last two games.”

Source: Read Full Article