Crokes had all angles covered
Within 10 minutes we had a very clear indication that the Killarney outfit were in no mood to release their grip on the Bishop Moynihan trophy.
By that stage Crokes were 2-4 to 0-2 ahead, the novelty and romance of a first ever county final appearance for Dingle fast becoming a exercise in damage limitation, and despite some honest endeavour from the likes of Breandán Kelliher at the back, Billy O’Connor and the Geaney cousins Mikey and Paul up front, Crokes dictated the tempo from there until the end.
That first half period included an 18-minute spell without a score, five watery wides and a missed goal chance from Eoin Brosnan for the Crokes, so the seven point margin at half-time was an accurate indication of the gulf in class.
Apart from a brief period in the middle of the second half, when Billy O’Connor imposed himself to win a few consecutive breaking balls and when the most influential player on view, Colm Cooper, got turned over three times, Dingle never got to grips with Crokes’ slick inter-play and near-perfect execution of skills in testing conditions.
Notwithstanding the disastrous start for Dingle, a few brief second-half cameos indicate why this was never a contest between equals.
Kieran O’Leary, who had a fine game, dummied his way through the tackles in the first minute despite being surrounded by three Dingle defenders to set the tone for the second half.
Official man of the match, Brian Looney, slipped the tackles under the stand three minutes later, Dáithí Casey supported the move and Looney bombed over a great score into the breeze. Dingle will probably regret not changing their wing-backs earlier as Looney and O’Leary caused consternation every time they were in possession. Paul Devane made way in the seventh minute of the second half but by that stage, the damage had been done. Pace, it seems, is everything in a county final, and Crokes had their homework done in that regard by attacking Dingle where they lacked pace.
Nineteen minutes in and Tom Brosnan, in a fit of youthful impetuousness galloped forward into frontier country, got ensnared by the multiple tackles and in the blink of an eye, Dáithí Casey had the ball over the bar at the other end for his first and only score to make it a nine point game.
For the remaining 10 or so minutes Crokes toyed with Dingle and Colm Cooper’s point on 23 minutes and Gavin O’Shea’s final fisted score merely embellished what was a very clinical, measured and controlled killing of a game.
Dingle, with so many youngsters on the field of play, will doubtless learn from the experience but perhaps the most frustrating thing for them today is that they never really played the game on their terms.
The barrel of a gun, straight-on delivery into Paul Geaney was obviously not working for them but they never got to deliver the angled ball he thrives on because of the application of those tasked with doubling up on the Dingle danger-man. Mike Moloney had a few uneasy moments but the honesty of those around him ensured that he never got exposed in a one-on-one situation with Geaney.
Mikey Geaney, who tried to take the game to Crokes at all times, came up against one of the most intelligent and intuitive sweeping centre backs in the game in Eoin Brosnan.
Many expressed surprise that Dingle went down the traditional man-marking route early on, but the reality is that two thirds of their half forward line are young non-grafting footballers. Contrast that with Crokes’ half forward line of O’Leary, Casey and Looney, who have learned the hard way that being an out and out forward is a luxury few can afford.
Three titles in a row is a serious achievement for Crokes. They have obviously benefitted from having shaken things up a little bit behind the scenes, they have enough players like Johnny Buckley, Dáithí Casey and Mike Moloney who still have something to prove and when they need to think their way through the game, Colm Cooper and Eoin Brosnan have few peers in Kerry.
They may worry about that period of down-time in the first half, about the dearth of aerial options outside midfield for David Moloney’s kickout (two or three out over the sideline yesterday) and about the fact that it’s been some time since they’ve had to dig out a result. But with the three in a row achievements of the Crokes team of a century ago emulated, there will be other days for those worries.!
