From the archieve: when Crokes last tasted defeat

2009 COUNTY SFC FINAL South Kerry 1-8 Dr Crokes 0- 10

“FROM Dr Crokes’ point of view,” Paul Brennan wrote on these pages five years ago, “last Sunday's county SFC final might have been more appropriately played the previous day – Halloween – given that their living nightmare in county finals continued with a third defeat in five years. That those trio of defeats were all inflicted by South Kerry merely compounds the horror for the Killarney club.”

How times have changed since that last defeat in the county senior football championship before Rathmore’s surprise victory in Rathbeg at the weekend. The Crokes went four years without tasting domestic championship defeat, claiming four county titles and three Munster titles along the way.

At the time it felt as though Dr Crokes would never get the monkey off their back, but eventually, of course, they did. That felt a long way away that dark, wet November afternoon of course. It was a particularly tough defeat to take given that the manager of the South Kerry was none other than Dr Crokes man and former manager John Galvin.

“And still the day could so easily have been carried by Dr Crokes,” Brennan continued.

“Had it, the hero of the hour would surely have been Brian Looney, whose three second half points almost single-handedly dragged his side to their first title since 2000 and into the Munster club championship.

“As the game seeped away from the club side at the three-quarter mark Looney mined points in the 50th, 51st and 55th to help Crokes to a 0-10 to 16 lead, as Daithi Casey (free) and Bryan Sheehan traded points between Looney’s second and third scores.”

It wasn’t to be, of course, South Kerry rallied as Crokes tried and failed to find the all important equaliser. It wouldn’t just come. Their day would, however, in 2010, ’11, ’12 and ’13 and, who knows, they might yet prevail in 2014. You wouldn’t bet against them, would you?