BUCKLEY AIMS TO EMULATE HIS FATHER
IF DR CROKES win tomorrow’s AIB All-Ireland club final, the climb up the Hogan Stand’s steps to collect the Andy Merrigan Cup should provide captain Johnny Buckley with a sense of deja vu. It is a journey he made 25 years ago, when Crokes defeated Thomas Davis to win their first All-Ireland crown, only that time he made the trip sitting astride the shoulders of his father, Mike. A quarter a century later, the father and son act are getting ready to do it all over again with Buckley senior a member of Pat O’Shea’s management team. ‘I was on his shoulders back in 1992 when we walked up the steps of the Hogan Stand. I was only two. ‘There are a couple of pictures doing the rounds of that occasion and it’s nice but if we are fortunate enough to get over the line the next day – I doubt if we will be repeating it,’ joked Buckley. The Kerry star is not the only one with family ties to that ’92 team as current boss O’Shea had a playing role in that maiden success and his son Gavin is part of the class of 2017. The desire of this generation to tread the footsteps of the one that went before is real, admits Buckley. ‘I suppose that has been in the back of your mind growing up, hoping one day I might emulate him. ‘But I suppose I have been lucky enough to bring home a few medals over the years and show them to him but he always takes out the shiny All-Ireland Club medal, telling you “I bet you can’t trump that”, so you have to put yours back in the box. ‘For that reason it would be great to finally win it 25 years on but we know the ’92 side can’t win this one for us,’ said Buckley as he eyes up Slaughtneil in tomorrow’s decider. While the Ulster champions will probably have the support of most neutrals, not least after losing the 2015 final to Corofin, Dr Crokes have more than served their time after losing three semi-finals on the bounce from 2012 to ’14. ‘We took on board the lessons we have learned from losing those three semi-finals and all we wanted to do was to get over that one game in February against Corofin so as to put us in the position that we wanted to find ourselves, preparing to play in an All-Ireland club final on St Patrick’s Day and have a go at winning it. ‘We have not been looking back too much, because what is gone is gone.’