Christy O'Connor: Dingle continue to defy convention, St Brigid's give defensive masterclass

It's rare for a player to radically transform a team in the way that the introduction of Paul Geaney did for Dingle. Along with scoring 0-8, he had a key hand in another 1-4.

Dingle's Tom O'Sullivan was the most influential player in his side's All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final victory over Ballyboden St Enda's. Pic: ©INPHO/Nick Elliott

At the end of the match in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening, Paul Geaney turned to the Dingle crowd in the South Stand and repeatedly waved his arms in the air like a matador, the beaming smile on his face an endorsement of an amalgam of belief, confidence and defiance that has taken Dingle to the edge of a mountain top that this group has long felt they were capable of reaching.

Winning Kerry was initially the only target but there was still always a wider goal attached to that quest. When the squad met in the Díseart Institute in Dingle eight years ago to write down their expectations and ambitions, they already had visions of a bountiful future.