Alert Cremin ready to guard Crokes line

He may still be waiting to make his championship debut for Kerry, but Kieran Cremin is not bitter, writes Colm O’Connor.

WHAT is it about GAA goalkeepers and the Gardaí? Is there a specialised unit, more secretive than the ERU, churning out incredibly agile young men trained to stop villains by night and defy superstars by day?

The evidence is compelling, your Honour.

Regular fans of All-Ireland Gold on TG4 will be familiar with the exploits of the late Cork great John Kerins and Tipperary’s Ken Hogan (now suspiciously an instructor in the Garda training college) between the posts. Then came a battalion, or whatever it is you call a multiple of goal-keeping gardaí: Kevin Dwyer (Cork), Alan Keane (Galway), and Declan O’Keeffe (Kerry) amongst those continuing the tradition.

Kieran Cremin of Dr Crokes, Kerry, and the traffic corps in Bandon laughs and thinks it might have something to do with the shift work but beyond that he can’t offer any further explanations – or maybe he has been trained to reveal only rank and serial number under interrogation.

Instead he keeps adding names to the list.

“There was a guy who played with Roscommon (Derek Thompson), David Clarke from Mayo…..’’

Cremin double-jobs in the goalie market. Tomorrow he will guard the net for Dr Crokes in their AIB All-Ireland club SFC semi-final against Moorefield of Kildare. Seven days later he will be part of the Kerry squad heading to play Fermanagh in round three of the Allianz Football League.

Being a goalkeeper may the loneliest place on the pitch but the most frustrating patch is that occupied by his or her understudy. Take a moment and try and recall the last time a substitute goalkeeper was called for and now you know how Cremin and his ilk must feel. The only game they play is the waiting one.

But if there is any hint of bitterness or disappointment with his role as number two to Diarmuid Murphy, the affable Killarney man isn’t betraying it. Instead he considers his situation part of his apprenticeship.

“Diarmuid was behind Declan O’Keeffe for a number of years. He played U21 in 1996 and had to wait until 2001 before being drafted into the senior panel. Then he had to wait another few years for his opportunity to get a starting spot. To be fair to him he has proven himself. There are not too many inter-county keepers who come into the frame and win back to back All-stars. I was just delighted to be in there for the last three championship campaigns and hopefully in a few months, when things with Crokes relax, I can try and push for a place again. But Diarmuid showed again on Saturday night how good he is with that (late) save against Cork. I have my work cut out.”

Relationships between first and second choice goalkeepers can be notoriously tense affairs. Last summer Oliver Kahn and Jens Lehmann traded insults in the newspapers before the World Cup. It was the only forum available to them as they weren’t on speaking terms.

There are no such stand offs in the Kerry camp.

“You have to be somewhat competitive but we work well,” explains Cremin. “We train together, do our own thing in the corner, and I’d like to think that I would bring the best out of Diarmuid and he would bring the best out of me.

“Obviously I want to get in goals but you don’t want to be wishing anything bad on the fella with the jersey because then the team is losing.”

The replacement role places additional pressure on Cremin when he is on club duty.

There are two camps of critical fans. There are those who expect more from the county man while there are others who are keen to find the flaws which are keeping him from the first team.

“There would be pressure – but people always expect more from the county players. But the only way that I can lead players is by doing my job, talking to the defence and keeping them on their toes and keeping my concentration levels up.”

The job is also much more than about stopping the ball.

“As the GAA becomes more professional in its approach, new stats are coming out like kick outs won and lost. So there is more pressure on the goalkeeper regarding finding the man from his kick out.

“It was always a case before of kick it as far as you can whereas now it is important to do that – and find a man at the same time.”

Cremin, like many kids in the Dr Crokes family came to football at an early age.

“I was about four years of age when I went up there first to a small little pitch off Fitzgerald Stadium. My father used to bring me up but when he couldn’t there was a couple of lads living in the estate like Michael O’Grady and Jim Connolly who would step in if he couldn’t bring me.

“I have been playing with the likes of Eoin Brosnan, James Cahalane and Batt Moriarty, three guys who are on the squad now, ever since.

“All my football was out the field as a kid though I used to play in goals for the soccer. Vince Casey was in charge of the soccer but he let out the word that I was a handy goalkeeper so they threw me in with the U14’s. I’d go in goals every second year after that. When I got to minors I made the Kerry team and after that I put all my eggs in one basket.”

It is a little disconcerting listening to Cremin separate his two footballing lives. With Kerry he is looking to the future but with Crokes he is one of the old stagers – a little ironic as he is only 26.

“We are always trying to build. The team is so young at the moment because the minors are being so successful. Andrew Kennelly, Shane Doolin and Michael Moloney are just out of their teens. Even in training you would see some fierce competition for places. The likes of Andrew is back in form after a knee injury, David Moloney (another former county keeper) is also pushing in hard in training – and that is what you want.”

And juggling it all with the day job?

“It can be tough,” he agrees, “with the shift work and working two weekends in the month and a few nights as well.

“I really enjoy being with Kerry and working with some of the best players in the county, but it’s also good come back and play with the club and bring something from the county set-up. Last year I played all the county league and the East Kerry championship which I think is very important.”

A familiar face now leads both club and county sessions. Pat O’Shea is one of the few links with today’s Dr Crokes and the team which it is trying to emulate – the All-Ireland winning side of 1992. Cremin remembers the day well, the train trip to the Big Smoke and how his mother sewed him a flag, the wide-eyed amazement of an eleven year old in Dublin, the excitement of the final whistle and the craic coming home.

“The players came down on the train with us and I remember going up to guys getting their autographs – guys who you’d have a drink in the pub with nowadays.”

He wouldn’t tempt fate and talk of trip to Croke Park on March 17th. “You could be beaten out the door by Moorefield and we’ll be talking of Cheltenham and not a club final on Paddy’s weekend.”

* Tomorrow: AIB All-Ireland club SFC semi-final: Dr Crokes (Kerry) v Moorefield (Kildare), Gaelic Grounds, 2.15pm (Live TG4).