David Clarke praises impact of Mayo goalkeeper Jack Livingstone

Michael Bolton

Former Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke has praised the impact of Jack Livingstone ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland final against Kerry.

Having not started the season as first choice, the Breaffy man made an immediate impact, with crucial saves against Monaghan on his championship debut.

Livingstone's excellent shot-stopping continued during wins over Meath, Cork, and Louth, helping bring Mayo to their first final since 2021.

Clarke was the man between the sticks for Mayo for years, and was full of praise for Livingstone and how quickly he had adapted.

“Top class. He’s kept Mayo in a lot of games. He’s probably made more one-on-one saves or more point-blank saves than any goalkeeper in the championship. Probably did that alone against Monaghan. He was unbelievable that day.

“He’s a real good, honest, committed and dedicated lad. Nice and calm, from what you can see on the pitch. He’s not an 18- or 19-year-old. He’s a man that’s holding down a job.

"He is mature. You can probably see that in his performances. He looks quite assured in everything that he does.”

Clarke spent some brief time with Livingstone at the beginning of the season and was impressed by his mentality.

“He just seemed very assured,” Clarke remembers. “I’d say at the time, he understood his position. Rob Hennelly was the number one, and he was coming in, and he just seemed keen to learn.

“I remember there was a goal that went in the week before, and he came to me, ‘How can we do something about this at the next session?’ You could just tell straight away he wasn’t just turning up to training to train. He was turning up with a purpose.

“As much as I felt he understood his role in the squad, that showed to me he was thinking further ahead, that he wanted to get better as an individual and as a goalkeeper and build on himself.”

The final also see a change of goalkeeper for Kerry, with Shane Murphy coming in for Shane Ryan.

Murphy made crucial saves in the semi-final win over Dublin, but Clarke hopes his good luck has run out.

“Shane Murphy made two top-class saves against Dublin. From a Mayo point of view, hopefully that’s his two top-class saves in Croke Park done for this month. Jack had a quiet enough day against Louth, so hopefully he’ll have two in the back pocket that he might be able to pull out against Kerry.”

A winner of eight Connacht titles and two all-stars, Clarke saw it all during his time as Mayo goalkeeper.

Unfortunately, that included heartbreak in All-Ireland finals, in a team alongside current Mayo manager Andy Moran.

This journey for Mayo is a new one for this panel. After a heavy defeat to Roscommon in April, the idea of an All-Ireland final looked unlikely.

However, driven by the talent of young players such as Kobe McDonald and Darragh Beirne, the squad has found a new energy.

"Andy [Moran], the way he’s talking, trying to be fresh, new, hungry, not putting too much focus on the past, and from what I can hear from him, letting young lads go out there and enjoy themselves."

He says the current team isn't weighed down with the baggage of past final defeats.  "I think there were two or three lads that started against Tyrone, and another one or two that will probably come on," he says.

"It’s a very new team, a fresh team, who are probably loving this season once they got going, once they started winning a few games, because they’ve had a tough enough couple of seasons, the basis of this team."