The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Rathmore complete three-in-a-row
EAST KERRY SFC FINAL Rathmore 2-12 Dr Crokes 0-13
AS we alluded to last week in our match preview, despite Rathmore’s recent successes in East Kerry there was still one thing they wanted to do when it came to an O’Donoghue Cup Final. That was to finally beat Dr Crokes in one! After winning the 1978 decider between the sides, on no less than seven different occasions they lost to the Killarney side in East Kerry’s senior decider, six in the last 14 years making the hurt all the more understandable for someone like Aidan O’Mahony who lost all six and a couple more. With their 2014 success (against Legion) in the competition though you always felt a corner had been turned by the club and that should they every find themselves facing Crokes again in a decider they were in their best position to possibly beat them on the big day.
It still looked hard in advance, a rejuvenated Crokes off the back of County and Munster success appeared to be back to dominance of all that crossed before them. However while Crokes saw off challenges from across the province, Rathmore lay in wait and observed the success with which they were seeing off sides and devising a way to counteract it. Early on last Sunday, it didn’t appear to be working though. Crokes’ decision to hand starts to Jordan Kiely and Micheal Burns proving justified with their ability to find scores.
Gavin White was thwarting Rathmore at the other end with interceptions but some big moments were about to go the defending champions way. Daithi Casey and Kieran O’Leary missed goal chances and goalkeeper Shane Murphy put a placed ball wide as Crokes failed to build on a 0-7 to 0-3 advantage after 21 minutes.
Two minutes later came the moment Rathmore got the wind behind their sails. Mark Reen and Eoin Lawlor combined for John Moynihan to steal through the Crokes defence for their first goal and a deficit of only one point. Shane Ryan’s big physical frame was becoming a big problem for the Crokes defence in the full-forward line and they found themselves trailing by 1-8 to 0-8 at half-time.
There were a number of skirmishes throughout, the fact all of the Rathmore full-back line picked up yellow cards a telling statistic of how much attention they were giving the Crokes forwards as Crokes substitute Brian Looney picked up a yellow card for an altercation with Rathmore captain Brendan O’Keeffe 10 minutes into the second period.
Looney and Eoin Brosnan had been sent on by the Crokes to try and offer more experienced heads in getting out of the rut they were in but Rathmore produced answers for everything Crokes threw at them, particular on the scoring front. Aidan O’Mahony popped over a confidence boosting score for Rathmore in the 44th minute but three minutes later came the crucial score of the game. Shane Ryan burst through and appeared to be bearing down on goal only for he to be fouled inside the area and a penalty awarded to his side. Mark Reen sent Shane Murphy the wrong way in giving Rathmore a 2-10 to 0-10 advantage with 13 minutes left.
Dr Crokes didn’t throw in the towel by any means but they failed to find any way through the Rathmore defence save for two occasions through Fionn Fitzgerald and Eoin Brosnan that merely yielded points as opposed to goals. Paul Murphy and substitute Mark Ryan put over the scores to secure Rathmore’s five point win and a third successive East Kerry title for the Sliabh Luachra outfit.
After 10 successive victories in O’Donoghue Cup Finals, Crokes taste defeat in one for the first time since they lost to Glenflesk in 2001 in what was the final East Kerry triumph for both Seamus Moynihan and Johnny Crowley.
It’s not the end of the world by any means for Crokes but last Sunday does give them a lot to think about over the next two months before they face Corofin of Galway in the All-Ireland Senior Club semi-final.
RATHMORE: Kenneth O’Keeffe, Michael J Kelliher, James O’Sullivan, Conor Jenkins, Paul Murphy (0-1), Conor O’Sullivan (0-1), Cathal Murphy, Aidan O’Mahony (0-1), Brendan O’Keeffe (0-1), Daniel O’Sullivan, Eoin Lawlor, George O’Keeffe (0-1), John Moynihan (1-0), Shane Ryan (0-3, 2f), Mark Reen (1-3, 0-2f). Subs: Brian O’Leary for Jenkins, Mark Ryan (0-1) for Daniel O’Sullivan, Dean Fitzgerald for Moynihan.
DR CROKES: Shane Murphy, Luke Quinn, Michael Moloney, Fionn Fitzgerald (0-1), Gavin White, Alan O’Sullivan, David O’Leary, Ambrose O’Donovan, Johnny Buckley, Daithi Casey (0-1f), Micheál Burns (0-3), Jordan Kiely (0-4, 3f), Colm Cooper (0-2f), Kieran O’Leary (0-1), Tony Brosnan. Subs: Eoin Brosnan (0-1) for David O’Leary, Brian Looney for Casey, PJ Lawlor for O’Sullivan, Gavin O’Shea for T Brosnan, Mike Milner for Buckley.
REFEREE: D Casey (Scartaglin)