Croke Rovers power to first title
It was a merited win for the Kilbrin and Castlemagner combination, who were the better balanced sidethroughout, with seven players on the scoresheet while the losers were reliant on Paul Verling for their scores.
Croke Rovers warmed to their task with early points for Kieran Sheahan and Shane Crowley.
Emmetts, comprising a Newmarket and Lismire line up, attempted to get to grips with the situation through the solid workrate of Paudie Allen, Gavin Forde, Alan Ryan and Michael O’Leary. However, Emmetts failed to covert numerous chances from both play and frees.
Verling did find his radar but, by half-time, Croke Rovers had jumped 0-9 to 0-3 ahead.
Again Rovers grabbed control upon the resumption, the untiring play of Terry Cantillon, Gareth Linehan, Daniel Sheahan and Patrick Egan to the fore.
And up front, Crokes possessed the stickmen in Kieran and Eoin Sheahan, along with Shane Crowley and Bryan Barry, to add on the points to rubberstamp a comfortable win.
Scorers for Croke Rovers: K Sheahan 0-4f, S Crowley 0-4, B Barry 0-2 (0-1f), S O’Reilly 0-2, E Sheahan 0-2, M O’Riordan and C Murphy 0-1.
Scorers for Robert Emmetts: P Verling 0-5 (0-4f).
CROKE ROVERS: D Daly; K O’Mahony, T Cantillon, T Mullane; G Linehan, D Sheahan, D O’Mahony; P Egan, B O’Mahony; E Sheahan, K Sheahan, T O’Reilly; S O’Reilly, B Barry, S Crowley.
Subs: M O’Riordan for B O’Mahony (39), C Murphy for Crowley (51).
ROBERT EMMETTS: S McAulliffe; D R Guiney, Colm Noonan, P Allen; A Ryan, G Forde, M O’Leary; E Allen, Cathal Noonan; B O’Connor, B O’Callaghan, J Flaherty; B O’Connell, D Quinlan, P Verling.
Subs: N Barrett for E Allen (39), D Enright for Guiney (44), J Kiely for Verling (53), B Lane for Flaherty (55).
Referee: E Walsh (Freemount).
