The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Dingle brush aside Crokes to reach county U-21 final
Dingle 1-12 Dr Crokes 0-5
DINGLE exerted a strong grip from the outset of this semi final in the County Under 21 football Championship played in extremely difficult conditions in Caherina last Thursday evening and never looked like relinquishing their first half lead, having played with the breeze, against a Crokes side who contested the tie with typical Championship fervour, but, were playing second fiddle in most sectors for long periods.
On paper Dingle had a most formidable look about them, having won the last two Minor County Championships with some players who also featured in Kerry’s back to back successes at All Ireland level. In addition ten of their starting fifteen had participated in the Senior County Championship five days previously, so in terms of quality and experience they had a decided advantage against a Crokes side who lacked the services of both Jordan Kiely and Michael Burns through injury along with four other players who are part of this year’s County minor panel.
Indeed the Killarney side included three minors in their attack, and, while, one could never fault their desire or determination, Dingle just had too many individual aces in every line of the pitch and physically were much better equipped in all of the central pivotal positions. Crokes initially adopted a defensive formation and with Mark O’Connor and Tom O’Sullivan prominent and productive, Dingle monopolised possession, exposed gaps along the flanks, and were three points in front after five minutes with full forward Cathal Bambury on target for all three scores.
For all of the opening quarter, Crokes hardly initiated a single attack with the result that one of their key players full forward Tony Brosnan was starved of a supply.
Dingle with a measured and composed approach continued to create chances with Tomas Sheehy from play registering two fine scores which left theminfront(0-70-0)bytheendofthe first quarter.
Crokes eventually got to grips with the situation with Tony Brosnan opening their account with a pointed free in the seventeenth minute. Jack Griffin who impressed throughout, and, will be eligible for the Minor grade again next year, kicked their second after some good build up play, but with Crokes pushing more players forward, the game opened up a lot more resulting in Dingle being given the time and space to display the entire range of their foot passing from all angles and distances.
They increased their lead to 0-9 to 0-2 by the 25th minute without availing of all of the scoring opportunities which presented themselves to them, and maintained that advantage to the interval with the impressive Cathal Bambury being the game’s top scorer (0-5) at that juncture.
A fisted point from Gavin White at the end of a surging run reduced the deficit within a minute of the restart, but any chance of a comeback from Crokes was quickly dispelled inside four minutes of the restart with Liam Brosnan pointing from play and Cathal Bambury finishing for the game’s only goal after Barry O’Sullivan and Tomas Sheehy had been involved in the build up.
Tom O’Sullivan fisted another point and with Barry O’Sullivan dominant in midfield and providing the platform for a series of attacks it was essentially one way traffic with Liam Brosnan kicking over his second point in the fortieth minute.
Crokes were reduced to fourteen players when Paul Clarke was shown a straight red card in the 43rd minute, but by that stage the final result was already a foregone conclusion.
In fairness to Crokes their momentum never wavered with Jack Griffin and Tony Brosnan, now playing out around midfield, offering a lot in terms of energy and industry. A brief flare up before the finish resulted in three yellow cards being shown, but given the circumstances surrounding the original altercation and the subsequent retaliation the colours of red and black could quite easily have been brandished.
Two pointed frees in the closing stages brought Crokes final tally to five points, with just two being scored from play.
Five different players scored nine points from play for Dingle which illustrated the difference between the teams on this particular occasion, but if Crokes had been able to field at full strength it might well, and probably would, have been a much more competitive and tighter encounter. But it was never going to be easy to beat this particular Dingle team who have been one of the most fancied, if not the most fancied, side to win this year’s Championship.
DINGLE: David O’Connor, Conor O’Sullivan, Patrick O’Connor, Tom L O’Sullivan, Mark O’Connor, Aidan O’Connor, Tom O’Sullivan (0-1), Barry O’Sullivan, Patrick Sheehy, Matthew Flaherty, Conor Geaney (0-2, 1f), Garreth H Brosnan, Tomas Sheehy (0-2), Cathal Bambury (1-5, 0-2f), Liam Brosnan (0-2). Subs: Patrick Devane for C Bambury, Mikey Boland for C O’Sullivan, Mikey O’Boyle for G H Brosnan, Mark Ashe for C Geaney.
DR CROKES: Johnny O’Leary, Brian Fitzgerald, Jack Linehan, Creagh Courtney, Darren O’Doherty, Gavin White (0-1), John Kerrisk, Killian O’Regan, Paul Clarke, Chris Doncel, Jack Griffin (0-1), Brendan Coppinger, Mark O’Shea, Tony Brosnan (0-2f), Michael Casey. Subs: Lorcan McMonagle for K O’Regan, Adam O’Shea (0-1f), for D O’Doherty, Murt O’Shea for B Coppinger,
REFEREE: Jer Lynch (Ballymacelligott)