Numbers Game

What more could Dingle have done in this game to turn the tide against Dr Crokes?

On a lot of the measures we have to hand the west Kerry outfit did pretty damned well. Take chances conver ted as an indication. Seán Geaney’s men conver ted an impressive 69% of chances created. That’s really good, but then you see that Dr Crokes topped it (if only just) with 70% of chances conver ted.

It just goes to show that there really wasn’t that much between these sides for a lot of the match. Dingle had their chances – Paul Geaney’s snap shot at the star t of the second half most notably – and could have won this match had just a little bit more gone their way.

That’s the thing about playing this Dr Crokes side – they’re so good, so efficient, that you can’t afford to be anything else yourself.

Once again – and not surprisingly – Shane Murphy was in pretty inspired form between the sticks. Apar t from the save on Geaney, his kick-outs were top notch. Sure a lot of them were won shor t uncontested – 11 out of the 17 they won – but quite a few of them were brilliantly struck finding runners in space.

Crokes retained 87% of their restar ts and it wasn’t until well into the second half that Dingle turned them over for the first time – Mikey Geaney won a break on the fifty fourth minute to break a run of thir teen kick outs in-a-row retained by the reigning champions.

This was a game where both teams were for the most par t satisfied to allow their opponents their kick-outs – although Crokes did push up that bit more than Dingle ever did (apar t from late enough in the second half when Dingle were forced to chase the game).

Dingle retained 78% of their primary possession, which against any other team would likely top the char t, but Dr Crokes aren’t any other team. They’re not unbeatable obviously, but you have to be really danged good to beat them and as good as Dingle were (and any team that lives with Crokes for as long as they did and any team that comes back at Crokes from being six points down in the first half is a good team) it wasn’t enough.

Notably there were quite a number of frees in the game –45 in all in a sixty minute match

– and Crokes had the majority (marginally) of those with 24 to Dingle’s 21. Most of those frees came in the second half as things became that bit more desperate.

Crokes were determined not to allow Dingle get on possession in and around the scoring zone and seemed quite happy to foul and stop Dingle attacks dead in and around the fifty metre mark or beyond – Paul Geaney conver ted two long range frees into the Mitchel’s end in the second half.