Dr Crokes bidding to end year on a high

It all feels pure pantomime.

The sniffling noses and swollen eyes tell you it’s freezing but Colm Cooper wanders into the room in a pair of shorts and football boots. Brian Looney follows him, clutching the Santa hat he was asked to wear by a photographer. It’s quite a lot to be drooping from the tiny hook of an All Ireland quarter-final against the London champions yet, initially, they play up the opposition, talk of a trip into the unknown and how they’ll take nothing for granted. But every so often, a shard of reality breaks the surface.

Cooper isn’t sure if it’s the same London team they played a few years back, and asked about his knowledge of the fixture, he admits they only realised it was their turn to play this round after the provincial semi-final disembowelling of Clonmel. Then again, this isn’t about Tir Chonaill Gaels, instead it’s one last chance this year to sit back and admire Dr Crokes. What we’ve seen so far from Cooper suggests these quiet summers with Kerry are refreshing his game, and what we’ve from Looney is a player who decided 12 measly minutes against Mayo in the league in 2010 isn’t going to be his only memory of county colours. That’s before we get to Mike Moloney, Johnny Buckley, Kieran O’Leary and one of the most entertaining and stylish club sides there has been.