The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Munster is just a means to greater end
Paul Brennan was in Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds to witness Dr Crokes conquer Munster in what is simply a stepping stone to greater things
IN every sense last Sunday’s Munster Club final in Limerick was a stepping stone for Dr Crokes. If we take their Munster semi-final against St Finbarrs as the starting point then Dr Crokes have moved successfully from their Lewis Road base to the Gaelic Grounds on their way to regaining the provincial title. From there they will travel up to the M7 in February to play the Leinster champions - either Kilmacud Crokes from Dublin or Longford’s Mullinalaghta - a game that will most likely be played in Portlaoise, whoever the opposition. If victorious there it’ll be on up the motorway in March for a St Patrick’s Day date in Croke park against Corofin, Gweedore or Scotstown.
By March 17 the Kerry champions might well have skipped from Killarney to Dublin via Limerick and Portlaoise in a neat, linear journey on their way to hopefully reclaiming the Andy Merrigan Cup. There was also a sense last Sunday that the Munster Final was a metaphorical stepping stone to be crossed. It’s not that anything was taken for granted beforehand or during the game, but given how the game panned out it’s not unfair to either Crokes or Miltown Malbay to suggest that this was simply another box to be ticked on the way to greater things.
Neither are we trying to be flippant or ramp up undue expectation on this Dr Crokes team, because it’s obvious that huge expectation for success comes from within the group anyway. Indeed, it should be taken as a compliment that when we talk of Dr Crokes being real and serious All-Ireland title contenders it’s because they are that good. Miltown Malbay manager Michael Neylon said as much in his gracious post-match comments last Sunday, and Dr Crokes selector Niall O’Callaghan suggested that this 2018 team is easily as good - probably better - than any Crokes team gone before, with the obvious caveat that this year’s group hasn’t won the All-Ireland title like the 1991/92 or 2016/17 teams.
You only needed to witness the post-match ‘celebrations’ of the Dr Crokes players and supporters after last month’s county final and last Sunday’s provincial final to see that the Crokes’ collective focus is on bigger prizes.
You can just imagine what a first county title since 1948 would have meant to Dingle last month or how the Miltown Malbay faithful would have celebrated had they won in Limerick. Indeed, every Miltown Malbay score and substitution was greeted with that unbridled passion and delight that clubs in their position always bring to these occasions.
Yes, there was plenty of black and amber colour in the Mick Mackey Stand, but Sunday was Miltown Malbay’s day in the sun, and they enjoyed every moment of it regardless of the result.
For Dr Crokes there was a sense of ‘job done, move on’, and that is totally understandable. They know they have a group of players - and a special manager - that are capable of going all the way to the Hogan Stand on St Patrick’s Day. They had that group two years ago and they’d have believed they had the group to retain their title last year. That they didn’t even get out of Munster 12 months ago has only emboldened them for this campaign.
That they have gone right through 2018 suffering just one defeat underlines what a great team this is and how focused they are to add another All-Ireland title. That they cruised through Munster with an average winning margin of over 15 points merely reinforces that.
Things shouldn’t be so easy when the championship resumes in February, starting with the semi-finals between Munster and Leinster, and Connacht against Ulster. Reigning All-Ireland champions Corofin will be there to face either the Donegal champions, Gweedore, or Scotstown from Monaghan, and the expectation is that Kilmacud Crokes will come through to play the Crokes of Killarney on the other side.
As Dr Crokes have learned to their cost more than once, there’s many a slip between Munster Final day and the All-Ireland semi-finals, and Pat O’Shea et al will be hopping to tap into whatever it was that worked for them over the Christmas of 2016 that saw them go all the way in March 2017.
Before all that, however, this Crokes squad is looking at potentially five more game in 20 days (including three games in seven days) starting with the County League Final against O’Rahillys this Sunday.
Three days later they play Fossa in the first round of the O’Donoghue Cup with a potential quarter-final on December 9, a semi-final on December 16 and an East Kerry final on Saturday, December 22.
It is by any stretch a gruelling schedule hard on the heels of intense county and Munster championship campaigns.
No other Kerry club would survive it but one senses that Crokes will take it all in their stride. Just a few more stepping stones.