CROKES COME THROUGH
Killarney club make it three on the bounce
DR CROKES’ recent dominance of the Kerry football championship continued yesterday afternoon with the Killarney club winning its third county title in as many years, and its seventh of the decade, after beating a Dingle team that was bidding for a first title since 1948.
It took Gavin White’s 57th minute goal for the defending champions to finally break Dingle’s resolve. The West Kerry club had doggedly kept themselves in the contest for long periods, refusing to surrender to Crokes’ superior firepower.
It was clearly evident that Crokes were determined to curb the goal threat of Paul Geaney, who had scored 9-12 coming into this final, and the champions did that brilliantly. The All-Star forward was restricted to just one clear shot early in the second half, which Shane Murphy saved superbly.
Once the Dingle attack was largely locked down, Dr Crokes left it to their emerging generation to go to work at the other end. David Shaw, starting in place of Kerry legend Colm Cooper, scored four points from play while Tony Brosnan finished with two points and White struck an impressive 1-1.
Dingle took the lead through a Paul Geaney free, enjoying a 0-2 to 0-1 advantage after five minutes. Then Dr Crokes did what they often do so well, reeling off seven unanswered points as they threatened to turn this final into a procession.
The defending champions played controlled football in that 15-minute period, forcing Dingle on to the back foot and into a massed defence. Crokes were still able to find the openings to pick off their scores.
It was 0-8 to 0-2 to Crokes when Kerry defender Tom O’Sullivan kicked Dingle’s third. That prompted his team into their best period as they landed three more points in the last five minutes of the half to make it 0-8 to 0-6 at half time.
Matthew Flaherty’s point cut the gap to one. Murphy then denied Geaney with a magnificent diving save in the 35th minute. Dingle were very much in this contest.
Crokes brought in Cooper to direct matters for the champions, and points from Shaw, White, Johnny Buckley and Daithí Casey followed as Crokes were 0-13 to 0-9 ahead after 48 minutes. They led 0-14 to 0-11 ahead after 51 minutes when Dingle corner-back Padraig O’Connor was dismissed for a second yellow.
Dingle tried to conjure that badly-needed goal but the Crokes defence held firm, and a swift counter-attack saw Kieran O’Leary play in White for a simple tap-in goal to put the champions five ahead on the cusp of the hour. Jordan Kiely added a final point in additional time.
This was a victory that saw Cooper and Eoin Brosnan win their eighth county championship medal — a record in Kerry — and sees Crokes record the most successful decade by any club in the county championship. They also go to the top of the Kerry club roll of honour with 13 titles, one more than Austin Stacks in Tralee.
Not that there will be much time for celebration or reflection in Killarney this week as the champions head to Tipperary next Sunday for a Munster club quarter-final against Moyle Rovers.
Still, they will savour this title as much as any any of the other six since 2010.
It was certainly one of the hardest won, before they start out to regain the Munster and All-Ireland titles they held two years ago.