DARA Ó CINNEIDE: Destiny will see Crokes and Cross clash again

For all their dominance of the game in Kerry and their back-to-back Munster titles there is sense that Dr Crokes must seize the opportunity and give their followers at least one more day out.

It was Martin Luther King Jr who turned Shakespeare’s well-worn words on their head to tell us that “the tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood — it ebbs” and Crokes will be well aware of that as they prepare for Ballymun in Thurles this evening.

Some of us cringed last autumn when joint managers Noel O’Leary and Vince Casey, while still navigating a course toward their third Kerry county championship in a row, announced to all and sundry that it was Croke Park or bust for the current generation of players in the black and amber. As a public statement of intent, it was unambiguous, it was bold and it was unlike almost anything we’d ever heard from a Kerryman on the sideline.

The fact the Dr Crokes players appear to have embraced the message from their management has given them the aura of a team on a mission this year but it also cranks up the pressure on them to deliver.

There is always an element of the leap into the dark about all club semi-finals, as what happened before Christmas in the provinces has very little bearing on what might happen in what is essentially a new championship.

This time 12 months ago, Crokes feared their Munster final win against UCC with its innocent and open football would leave them ill prepared for what lay ahead against defending All-Ireland champions Crossmaglen.

As it turned out, Crokes raced into a seven-point lead after 20 minutes but scored only 1-3 for the rest of the hour. Either side of half time, the experience of Oisín McConville allied with the honesty of the Kernans reduced the Killarney men to the nervous and hesitant game we hadn’t seen in some time within Kerry.

The Crokes of 2013 have so much more going for them, however.

Goalkeeper David Moloney brings experience to bear from kick-outs and under dropping ball and while Mike Moloney can get sucked into sloppy tackling at times, his presence offers the stability and height at the edge of the square that Crokes lacked last year. Maloney’s presence also frees up some really tenacious man-markers in Fionn Fitzgerald and John Payne to go about their business.

On the downside, Dr Crokes can hardly expect the Eoin Brosnan of 12 months ago to appear this evening. The injury that forced his withdrawal after 20 minutes against Castlehaven has taken a while to clear. The Kerry captain keeps himself in great shape but the lack of game time is bound to tell at some stage.

At midfield Johnny Buckley has matured an awful lot in recent months but this evening’s tussle with James McCarthy throws up an altogether different challenge to what he’s faced up to now. Since his emergence as an intercounty player of substance just two years ago, I’ve always been impressed with McCarthy. He arrived on the scene as a wing-back with a great striding run and he’s filled out to become the best running midfielder left in this year’s club championship.

It’s quite the challenge for Buckley but one he’s going to have to face down if he’s to deliver on the raw promise shown as recently as two weeks ago in Castlebar with Kerry.

Ballymun have the distinct advantage of having come through a more attritional Leinster championship. The final against Portlaoise in December was described by McCarthy as “one of the most physical games I’ve played. There was hitting going in there like I’ve only experienced a few times. I’m knackered”.

Contrast that with what Dr Crokes encountered against Castlehaven and Tír Chonaill Gaels and there is no doubt Ballymun are the better prepared for a scrap.

Even allowing for the usual tight marking he experiences at all levels, Colm Cooper still manages to leave his fingerprints on key moments in every game. He usually does it in short, devastating bursts before retreating to pull the strings for Brian Looney, Jamie Doolan and Kieran O’Leary. The difference now is that all three have arrived at the stage where they can get scores independently of their master. That wasn’t the case last year and Crokes lost their shape up front when James Morgan subdued the genius of Cooper and Paul Kernan kept a grip on O’Leary.

The argument for a Crokes win this time is simple. Provided they don’t get impatient with the defensive wall that Ballymun will set up early in the game, the space of Semple Stadium should suit the Kerry side’s more expansive game. It might take until past the three-quarter hour mark, but I expect Crokes to get another step closer to the one prize that has eluded them for so long.

I am a huge fan of the type of football that Crossmaglen play. I’ve long admired them for consistently favouring the kicked delivery over the safe hand pass, for their willingness to scrap for every ball and for their refusal to get side-tracked by poor refereeing decisions.

Matching their conditioning, temperament and style, all perfectly suited to winter football, has proved beyond almost every opponent.

This afternoon’s game in Mullingar is fraught with danger, however.

There were enough signs in the early stages of their second half against Kilcoo to suggest that a team of genuine will and conviction could push them over the edge.

Kilcoo managed to whittle down a 2-7 to 0-3 lead to 2-7 to 1-7, but a great Martin Ahern point turned the tide in Cross’s favour again and they went on to win in a canter.

To get over St Brigid’s they are going to have to get a lot more out of Jamie Clarke, Kyle Carragher and Aaron Cunningham and they must protect their backs more when Aaron Kernan goes wandering.

When it comes to days like today, Crossmaglen always show up ready for battle but Kilmacud Crokes two years ago, Dr Crokes last year and most recently Kilcoo showed that the northerners can be vulnerable for certain periods in big matches. Exploiting that vulnerability is another thing entirely and, to borrow once more from the bard, all three aforementioned teams failed to “take the current when it serves”.

St Brigid’s might not be as accommodating as others, but none are as constant as the Northern star.

If there is such a thing as destiny in the game of football — it will see Cross and Crokes in Croke Park two days after the ides of March.