Joe Carroll: Cluxton has a record in Leinster which may never be broken

It’s always around the All-Ireland football final that stats are rolled out – how many medals this or that fella has got, when did the finalists last meet, which county has the most titles. That sort of thing.

This year Stephen Cluxton, Michael Fitzsimons and James McCarthy were in focus more than anyone else. They have eight medals – could they make it a record nine?

We all know now that they did, their Dublin side winning to bring them that bit closer to their opponents on final day, Kerry, on the all-time list.

Kerry are on 37, Dublin now just six behind. Next best are Galway on nine, and as mentioned here last week, the top pair’s total is greater than all other counties’ combined.

One stat that hardly got any mention was the number of medals Cluxton has won at provincial level. It’s a quite phenomenal 18. And just think, had he not opted off the panel for two years, he’d have completed his second decade. Yes, there are two others won at under-age.

He made his senior debut in 2001. That year Dublin were beaten by Meath in the final. They gained revenge the following year, but weren’t mapped in 2003 or ‘04, the titles going to Laois and, for the very first time, Westmeath.

And they had been beaten by Meath at the semi-final stage in 2010, a year which will be etched in Louth minds for years to come.

In all other years, except for 2021 and ’22, the Parnells clubman was between the sticks on the day the Delaney Cup was presented, and, of course, on several occasions he was the one it was presented to.

What a record, one that might never be broken.