East Kerry left to wonder what might have been as Dingle storm into final with Crokes

GARVEY’S COUNTY SFC SEMI-FINAL REPLAY

Dingle 4-13 East Kerry 0-12

DO East Kerry sit and wonder this week what might have been?

What might have been had Paudie Clifford not been sent off at the start of the second half. What might have been had his brother David not joined him on the sidelines later in the half when the game was still a live proposition.

Dingle were probably going to win anyway – that brilliant start practically ensured it – but with those twin departures whatever hopes East Kerry had of getting something out of the game went up in smoke.

When Clifford the younger was sent off there was just two kicks of a ball in it, 3-7 to 0-10, and about eighteen minutes left to play. There was time and there was opportunity for East Kerry to rouse themselves as they had a week before in pretty similar circumstances.

Instead a bad-tempered game – and there was plenty blame to go around on both sides – petered out to a somewhat inevitable conclusion. Dingle pushed on for home and, even if East Kerry didn’t throw in the towel, they played like a team who knew their race was run.

When East Kerry pushed forward in numbers, Dingle were able to counter nearly at will, exploiting the space to round out the game with an additional 1-5 in contrast to their rivals’ return of just two points.

It was a really disappointing way for East Kerry to bow out of this year’s championship. They started with a bang and finished with a whimper. Still they can have few complaints, Dingle were the better side, the better drilled side.

Once again Seán Geaney got his tactics spot on. His players knew exactly what they were about. Dingle were more structured – better structured really – than the divisional side and it told.

Dingle clearly spotted a weakness in the East Kerry rearguard and were quite ruthless in exploiting it. Full-back Dan O’Donoghue didn’t get nearly enough protection and, with the breeze behind them, Dingle sent a lot of quality ball into Paul Geaney and the All Star winning forward ruthlessly exploited the space afforded him.

After an early exchange of points by the two centre-forwards – Mikey Geaney and Paudie Clifford – Geaney had earned his side a penalty (for a push in the back as he bore down on goal) with just two minutes on the clock. Geaney, unsurprisingly, despatched it with clinical efficiency to the keeper’s left.

For a time it felt like East Kerry were responding reasonably well to the early set-back. After seven minutes they’d whittled down Dingle’s lead to a single point following a pair of David Clifford points – 1-1 to 0-3 – but any such illusions were soon disabused.

On eight minutes Michéal Flannery combined with Geaney for his second goal and less than a minute later – straight from the kick-out – Mikey Geaney had the ball in the back of the net having taken an assist from Barry O’Sullivan.

Geaney’s goal put Dingle ten points clear – 3-1 to 0-3 – just ten minutes into the game and near odds on favourites to book a place in the final as a result. East Kerry did switch things up after that, Jack Sherwood moved to pick up Paul Geaney and got a bit more protection, but the damage was done.

To stand a meaningful chance of turning it around East Kerry needed a goal before the break and, despite not playing particu- larly well, they fashioned three goal-scoring opportunities.

None of them were exactly clear-cut – on eleven minutes Shane McSweeney flashed wide across the face of goal, on seventeen minutes Dara Moynihan settled for a point (probably wisely) when in with half a chance of a goal and on twenty four minutes Darragh Roche fumbled when bearing down on goal having won a kick-out against the head.

When East Kerry couldn’t manage to bring that gap down a little bit more before the break, when they finished the half nine points behind as a result of those early goals – 3-7 to 0-7 – they were always going to be fighting an uphill battle in the second half.

The mass brawl which broke out at the start of the second half did East Kerry no favours whatsoever, even so it’s very hard to see how Dingle could have been overturned the way they were playing.

They were men on a mission on Sunday, with a singular focus and intent. Add to all the good things they were doing around the pitch – they swarmed and suffocated East Kerry with regularity – the form Paul Geaney was in, in front of the sticks and there was probably no stopping them.

It came as no surprise to anyone when he wrapped the game up with his hat-trick goal on fifty two minutes. In this kind of form Geaney and Dingle will take stopping. And stopping them is what Dr Crokes will be out to do. It promises to be a much more interesting final than when last they met.

DINGLE: Gavin Ó Corráin (0-1 ‘45), Micheál Ó Flannura, Tomás Ó Súilleabháin, Pádraig Ó Conchúir (0-1), Micheál Ó Baoighill, Tomás Ó Súilleabháin (0-5), Aodhan Ó Conchúir, Liam Ó Conchúir, Barra Ó Súilleabháin (0-1), Brian Ó Conchúir, Micheál Ó Géibheannaigh (1-2, 1f), Eoin Ó Murchú, Tomás Mac an t’Sithigh (0-1f), Pól Ó Géibheannaigh (3-1, 1-0 pen), Maitiú Ó Flaitheartaigh Subs: Breandán Ó Ceileachair, Niall Ó Géibheannaigh (0-1) for M Ó Baoighill, 49, Brian Ó Connáil for T Mac an t’Sithigh, 55, Brian Ó Dubháin for B Ó Conchúir, Sean B Ó Brosnacháin, 59, Darragh Ó Súilleabháin for P Geaney, 64

EAST KERRY: Brendan Kealy (Kilcummin), Darren Brosnan (Gneeveguilla), Dan O’Donoghue (Spa), Chirs O’Donoghue (0-1) (Glenflesk), Seán O’Leary (Kilcummin), Jack Sherwood (Firies), Philip Casey (Kilcummin), Shane McSweeney (Kilcummin), Kevin O’Gorman (Kilcumin), Dara Moynihan (0-1) (Spa), Paudie Clifford (0-2) (Fossa), Liam Kearney (Spa), Evan Cronin (Spa), David Clifford (0-4, 3f) (Fossa), Darragh Roche (0-3, 1f) (Glenflesk) Subs: Noel Duggan (Kilcummin) for E Cronin, half-time, Ronan Buckley (Listry) for K O’Groman, 41, Jeff O’Donoghue (0-1) (Glenflesk) for P Casey, 50, Brian O’Donoghue (Glenflesk) for L Kearney, 59, Anthony Kennedy (Listry) for S O’Leary, 60

REFEREE: Paul Hayes (Kerins O’Rahillys)