Double delight for Crokes duo

AS he left Fitzgerald Stadium last Saturday afternoon, JB Spillane reflected on the end of his Kerry championship season.

The Castlegregory man had been part of a West Kerry side that was just pipped by a point against Dr Crokes in the senior semi-final. There are plenty ways to cope in the aftermath of a gut-wrenching championship defeat but choosing to fraternise with a dose of X Factor is a novel approach.

Yet that is what Spillane did. With his Kerry endeavours for 2011 concluded, his focus switched over to the county boundaries where a Cork final appearance with UCC on Sunday awaited him. Johnny Buckley and Daithí Casey had been his foes as Dr Crokes players but now they were friends as UCC team-mates.

“I’ve been friends with the lads for years so it goes beyond football,” outlined Spillane.

“I had grub with them after in the Crokes clubhouse on Saturday which was a bit strange. But that was always the plan as we said we’d all head up together to Cork then to get ready for Sunday. To be honest after losing it was great for me to be able to move on straight away and concentrate on another game.”

Having compatriots in the same boat helped the trio cope with the demands of having two hugely significant games compressed into a 24-hour period.

“It was a big bonus having the other lads in the same situation at the weekend,” admitted Casey.

“Johnny had the ice baths ready for the three of us in his house in Killarney after the game on Saturday so we started the recovery straight away. We drove then up to Cork after, watched the X Factor and chilled out together for the night. I suppose it was a bit weird having played against JB earlier that day.

“Fair play to him he got his focus back because I don’t know would I have been in the form to speak to him at all if Crokes hadn’t got the win.”

For Buckley and Casey, the weekend unfolded in a dream fashion. On Saturday they ensured Dr Crokes remained on the right track to retain their Kerry senior title and then on Sunday they added a Cork senior medal to accompany the Sigerson trinket they won with the college earlier in the year.

“It just feels absolutely unbelievable to have won both games,” reflected Buckley.

“We just tried to take it one game at a time. It’s in the back of your head all week that you’ve one of the biggest football weekends of your career ahead of you. But I just wanted to focus on Saturday and then start looking at Sunday after it. It was tiring stuff but the three of us took care of the bodies on Saturday as best we could with the ice baths, having plenty fluids and getting good food.

“The UCC physios helped Sunday morning as well. I was feeling the effects in the last 10 minutes of the Cork final but thank God we got through it.”

For Spillane, the triumph rounded off a year of fluctuating fortunes. At the end of May he broke his collarbone which left him frustrated on the sidelines for the summer.

“I’d a fairly quiet summer in Kerry when I didn’t have the football but I guess I timed coming back well. I missed the Nicks game with UCC and then the Clon game, I was there togged out but just didn’t play.

“The semi-final was my first game back when I came on as a sub but it was a big motivation to get back fit when UCC were still winning. It’s fantastic to have won a county, particularly as Michéal Ó Sé from my club was on the UCC team that won in 1999 as well. I don’t think it has sunk in yet.

“The older lads were saying you won’t realise it for a few years what it means. But right now it’s just brilliant to win something like this with your friends who you hang out with every day in college and head out for a few pints with.”

The UCC players were keenly aware that they may not be the most popular of champions yet that did not dilute the celebrations for Buckley, who will now chase a county senior double along with Casey in the Kerry decider on Sunday week.

“I know people don’t think we’re an orthodox club but there’s something very special about UCC. You see the likes of Rochey and Dr Con there, and how much it means to them. It’s their club for life.

“Once you come into UCC, you’re welcomed into that family so it means everything. We’ll enjoy this but Harry O’Neill will have us back down for training in Killarney tonight and we’ll sweat out the celebrations then.”