Revived Crokes cruise
GARVEY’S COUNTY SFC QUARTER-FINAL
Dr Crokes 1-20 Legion 0-9
A FEW different ways this contest can be summed up.
Underwhelming in terms of competitiveness, routine for Dr Crokes in of securing a comprehensive victory and awful for their Killarney neighbours Legion in offering no genuine threat to their opponents once Crokes found their rhythm.
Billy McGuire might have put over the first point of proceedings for Legion, but that was nearly as good as it got for them as Crokes started piling on the points and getting their movement in the forwards to devastating effect.
Tony Brosnan had caught the eye in the Round 3 victory over An Ghaeltacht with his scoring endeavours and he was given the start ahead of Colm Cooper again on Sunday and produced another high scoring individual display.
Brian Looney had got Crokes on the scoreboard but a period from the 13th to the 26th minute where they hit nine consecutive points without one going wide was the most impressive as Brian Kelly was having a torrid time in terms of his kick-outs.
Not even a heated exchange of pulling and dragging during the first period changed the nature of proceedings to any great degree as Kelly did telegraph an effort from David Shaw at goal in the 28th minute.
A free from Dáithí Casey ended the first-half scoring as Crokes led by a comfortable 0-13 to 0-1, Jonathan Lyne missing a chance at the end of the first period to add to Legion’s tally in a first-half they were only glad to see end.
A brief flurry upon the restart with a Danny Sheahan point and a brace from James O’Donoghue suggested Legion might have a bit more purpose in the second period, but when Cian Gammell and Sheahan were caught going for the same ball, Brian Looney was given a giltedge opportunity for a goal that put Crokes ahead by 1-13 to 0-4 after 35 minutes.
The sight of Colm Cooper coming on as a sub probably only compounded matters for Legion as Tony Brosnan brought his eventual total to 0-9, four of which came from frees.
Eight different Crokes players scored in their fourteen-point success as they did look a lot stronger defensively compared to some of their earlier outings in the competition.
Legion’s forward line never really asked them genuine questions however as although James O’Donoghue did register six scores, they never had the sort of conviction one would hope from a side at this stage of the competition.
Crokes did a lot right, particularly when Johnny Buckley gave them such a strong platform at midfield as any doubts about their shape following the O’Rahillys defeat appear to have been answered strongly with their two victories since.
Being drawn with Strand Road again in the semi-finals is almost the perfect tonic for them in terms of a short-term goal before thoughts of the big prize can be entertained.
Legion still have some local chance to redeem themselves with the O’Donoghue Cup in East Kerry.
Overall, it’s a strange campaign to assess for them as despite the two wins over Rathmore and Mid Kerry they appeared to be as far away last Sunday from the 2015 campaign where they came within an eyelash of being County Champions.
The 2014 win over Crokes in Lewis Road is still their only major victory at county level over them in recent times. They are not as bad as last Sunday suggests – their victories over Rathmore in Rathbeg and Mid Kerry in JP O’Sullivan Park in this campaign attests to that – but they still lack a sharp edge for when it really matters on the big day.
Staying in Division 1 was a good achievement for them but you feel they must strive for more purpose on the days it matters like their rivals across town do with more regular effect.
Every time Crokes have made the semi-finals of the County Championship this decade they have won it, an ominous stat for the other three teams in competition as they look to have a purpose to their ambition now, something that was lacking in the early rounds.
DR CROKES: Shane Murphy; John Payne, Michael Moloney, Fionn Fitzgerald; David O’Leary, Shane Doolan, Gavin White; Johnny Buckley, Daithi Casey (0-2, 2f), Micheal Burns (0-1), Gavin O’Shea, Brian Looney (1-2); Tony Brosnan (0-9, 4f), Kieran O’Leary (0-2), David Shaw (0-2) Subs: Alan O’Sullivan for David O’Leary, Colm Cooper (0-1) for O’Shea, Paul Clarke for Burns, Jordan Kiely (0-1) for Kieran O’Leary, Micheal Potts for Looney and Jason Lyne for Shane Doolan
LEGION: Brian Kelly; Cian Gammell, Damien O’Sullivan, Darragh O’Doherty; Rob Leen, Danny Sheahan (0-1), Jonathon Lyne; Billy McGuire (0-1), Jack O’Neill; Aidan Slattery, Jamie O’Sullivan, Denis Sheahan; James O’Donoghue (06, 3f), Padraig Lucey, Conor Keane (0-1) Subs: Finbarr Murphy for Slattery, Cathal Sheahan for O’Doherty, Shaun Keane for O’Neill, Peter McCarthy for Conor Keane, Kevin Breen for Jamie O’Sullivan and Donal Lyne for Denis Sheahan
REFEREE: Seamus Mulvihill ( St Senans)
MAIN MAN
The An Ghaeltacht game was certainly no ‘flash in the pan’ for TONY BROSNAN. Johnny Buckley put in an impressive innings as well but Crokes’ policy of giving young players their chance is working well at the moment.
KEY MOMENT
Point after point for Crokes from the in that 13-minute spell in the first period pretty much killed the game as a contest. Legion never looked like getting anything that might change the outcome as they were made to pay for giving a purposeful Crokes side the time and space to do what they do best in seeing off teams early on.
TALKING POINT
As much as people might get excited by local derbies, Legion are still not the equal of Crokes at senior level in terms of success and on Sunday’s basis, competitiveness. They have good underage work done but not transferring it to senior level like Crokes tend to do remains their Achilles heel from making a breakthrough on the big stage.