Crokes prove a class above once more to triumph over Dingle
Not as comfortable as the scoreline suggests but a familiar conclusion to the Kerry senior football championship as Dr Crokes held sway for a seventh time this decade.
Twice in the final 10 minutes of normal time Dingle narrowed the gap to two points, the second time after losing captain Pádraig Ó Conchuir to a second yellow card for a foul on Kieran O’Leary.
Backed by considerable support in the 6,028 Austin Stack Park crowd, Paul Geaney had punished a foul on Barry O’Sullivan, the last of three converted infringements claimed by the marauding Dingle midfielder in the second half.
But the numerical advantage and keenness to push on opened an avenue for Gavin White to guide his team to glory. Involved with Brian Looney in the build-up, he collected a lay-off from O’Leary to find the net. O’Leary followed it up with a point and Dingle’s day was done, as much as a shot by substitute Conor Geaney was cleared off the line in additional time.
After a difficult week — of their own making — for the club, Dingle turned up here. It didn’t look that way for an 11-minute period in the first half where Crokes laid it on heavy with seven unanswered points. But going into the break there was little doubt it was Dingle who had the initiative, who might have scored a goal themselves in the opening stages but for a White intervention.
Crokes were calculating at the outset, taking their time to find a way through the defensive banks where Matthew Flaherty was operating, but when they eventually did, the scores flowed. David Shaw had been an isolated figure early on but the first cousin of Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea, who was in attendance to support him, picked off three points in the space of eight minutes, cleverly setting up Looney for another.
Crokes were feasting on Dingle’s kickouts — Gavin O’Shea profiting from one kicked straight to Daithí Casey — yet it was the communication and alertness of their forwards after each score that was truly delivering on those restarts.
At 0-8 to 0-2 in the 21st minute, the signs were ominous but up stepped Tom O’Sullivan to bring Dingle back into it. He clipped over a point a minute later and, after Liam Ó Conchuir did well to assist Tom Sheehy for a score, the county defender added a second before winning a free, which Paul Geaney converted.
Two points separated them at the break (0-8 to 0-6) as Crokes went 20 minutes (on either side of the interval) without a score.
Crokes’ selector Vince Casey reasoned the team had put a lot into that period where they were so dominant. “We spoke at half-time about the intensity they gave, there was guys having to make 100-metre runs, particularly the midfielders and half-backs because there was a lot of bodies in defence and then you had to make sure you didn’t leave yourself exposed and get back up the pitch.”
Two minutes into the second half Shane Murphy came to the aid of the champions when stopping Paul Geaney from scoring yet another goal in this championship. Geaney turned on a sixpence after a Tom O’Sullivan effort dropped short but Murphy’s agility was splendid.
Two minutes later, a Matthew Flaherty point brought Dingle to within one and Crokes manager Pat O’Shea was remonstrating loudly with his players from the sideline. Casey recalled: “We were worried because but they showed patience, they were trying to score points.”
Shaw ended Crokes’ barren spell in the 39th minute after a lovely one-two move with Looney and White kicked a mighty score in the 41st minute after a pass by Fionn Fitzgerald. The margin grew to four points in the 44th minute when Casey converted a free he won but Barry O’Sullivan continued to draw frees to keep Dingle in touch and when he found his range in the 49th minute to make it a three-point game, it was set up for a tasty finale, but then came Ó Conchuir’s dismissal.
Crokes sent in the cavalry with the likes of Colm Cooper and Jordan Kiely while the influence of Tom O’Sullivan waned. Casey heaped praise on the bench for the win. “Look, our strength is our panel, that’s what our togetherness is and all of them made an impact when they came on, and ultimately that’s what the difference is at the end of the day.
The only time we started to feel the game was coming to it was the goal, that was when it was 14 v 15, we turned it over and moved at pace and thankfully our guys made right decisions and it was easy for Gavin to finish.
Casey acknowledged the job done by Mike Moloney on
in-form Geaney, who aside from the frees and that goal opportunity was kept in check. “Mike Moloney is probably one of the most underestimated full-backs in this county for the last number of years. You give Paul Geaney half a chance and he takes it, he’s marked in the championship and scored a point off him. Mike just has a great presence and he did well. He got plenty of support around him and our defence as a unit played very well. We weren’t going to leave ourselves exposed to one-on-ones and leave huge space there.”
Scorers for Dr Crokes:
D Casey (3 frees), D Shaw (0-4 each); G White (1-1); T Brosnan (0-2); G O’Shea, B Looney, J Buckley, K O’Leary (0-1 each).
Scorers for Dingle:
P Geaney (0-6, 5 frees); T O’Sullivan (0-2); T Sheehy, M O’Flaherty, B O’Sullivan, M Geaney (0-1 each).
DR CROKES:
S Murphy; M Moloney, J Payne (c), F Fitzgerald; D O’Leary, G White, S Doolan; J Buckley, D Casey; M Burns, G O’Shea, B Looney; T Brosnan, K O’Leary, D Shaw.
Subs for Dr Crokes:
C Cooper for G O’Shea (38); A O’Sullivan for D O’Leary (45); J Kiely for T Brosnan (50); M Potts for D Shaw (55); E Brosnan for M Burns (60+2); P Clarke for K O’Leary (60+3).
DINGLE:
G Curran; M Boyle, T Leo O’Sullivan, P Ó Conchuir (c); A O’Connor; T O’Sullivan, M Flannery; L Ó Conchuir, B O’Sullivan; P Devane, M Geaney, B Ó Conchuir; T Sheehy, P Geaney, M O’Flaherty.
Subs for Dingle:
E Murphy for P Devane (43); B Kelleher for M Flannery (58); C Geaney for T Sheehy (60+3).
Sent off:
P Ó Conchuir (52, second yellow).
Referee:
S Mulvihill (St Senan’s).
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