Success breeds success

SUCCESS breeds success. How do we know?

Well for one thing in each of the last four years a Kerry school has won the Hogan Cup. In each of those four Hogan Cup winning seasons the Kerry minor team has brought the Andy Merrigan Cup back to the Kingdom and, on top of all that, when Pobalscoil Corca Dhuibhne won their two in-a-row, Dingle did likewise in the County Minor championship.

Now it’s East Kerry’s turn to follow in the footsteps of Dingle by following up college success in spring with a domestic honour in autumn. We’ll say it again. Success breeds success.

Success also attracts scrutiny and sometimes criticism. Dublin win he three in-a-row and all of a sudden people are talking again about splitting the county in two. East Kerry’s current strength at underage level will draw similar questions.

Are they too strong. Do they have too many clubs to draw upon? Is their size and strength out of whack with the other districts in the competition? Having eight of the thirteen East Kerry Board clubs available to them would have made them relatively strong in any ordinary year regardless of the success enjoyed elsewhere by their best players.

The 2017 success, however, was certainly one they didn’t have their own way with the loss to St Kierans in their opening fixture and the ferocious examination they got from St Brendans last Saturday. Of course taken with the 2013 success under James Fleming, East Kerry is a particular hotbed of talent at the moment in the way we have seen dominance from South Kerry and Mid Kerry at this level over the last two decades at various times.

Indeed it’s probably an indication of the population trends at the moment and the concentration