Munster marvels, but Dr Crokes eyeing loftier peaks
Celebrations, such as they were, were quite muted at the final whistle. No Dr Crokes player followed captain John Payne up into the Mackey Stand for the presentation of the O’Connor Cup, while it was the Miltown-Malbay contingent, long after Crokes had disappeared back into their dressing room, who were last to leave the field.
Now, make no mistake, the Crokes players cut a more than content bunch at having reclaimed a provincial crown they were so disgusted to relinquish this time last year. But being top of the class again in Munster does not represent the height of their ambitions for this season.
There are higher peaks to climb.
That the Miltown-Malbay support comfortably outnumbered Crokes came as no surprise. The nine-point defeat will not take from the fact that this was one of the biggest days in the club’s history. What the victory meant to Crokes — their fifth Munster title since 2011 and eighth overall — was perfectly summed up by Miltown-Malbay manager Michael Neylon, and it should be noted that his tone here was in no way disingenuous.
Dara Mullin with a lovely side step and goal for Kilmacud Crokes pic.twitter.com/Wud2Hht4w2
— The GAA (@officialgaa) November 25, 2018
“This is just another day for Crokes. This would have been a huge win for us. It’s another step for Crokes and onwards they go,” Neylon remarked.
Onwards they go without having received a sustained gut-check in any of their three provincial outings; Moyle Rovers dispatched by 16 points, St Finbarr’s by 21, and but for a Darragh McDonagh goal deep in second-half stoppages yesterday, the margin of victory would also have been in double-digit territory.
Where the Tipperary and Cork champions brought the fight to Dr Crokes in the opening minutes of their respective games, Miltown-Malbay, appearing in their first Munster club senior final, endured a start of nightmare proportions.
Gavin O’Shea kicked Crokes’ opening point after two minutes, with the ensuing passage of play providing the opening goal. A Kieran O’Leary delivery across the large parallelogram evaded a number of gloves, the ball falling kindly into the lap of David Shaw. The 2016 Kerry minor, who surely could not believe his luck, duly obliged.
A Daithí Casey free, a Shane Murphy ‘45, and Tony Brosnan’s first of eight points had the favourites 1-4 to 0-0 clear by the eighth minute. Brosnan’s second and Kieran O’Leary’s opening point, after a trademark Gavin White burst, eased the advantage out to nine by the 13th minute.
No game can ever truly be decided as early as the 13th minute, but given yesterday pitted first-time finalists against a crowd who can
afford to leave Colm Cooper, among others, on the bench, the likelihood of Miltown-Malbay successfully managing a 10-point swing over the remaining 47 minutes was simply never going to materialise. That, of course, is not to say they duly accepted their fate.
Operating with two extra bodies in defence in an attempt to keep a lid on a Crokes front six which ran up 4-26 in their last two outings, the approach of the Clare side was to strike on the counter. And their direct running game did, at times, upset the Crokes
defence, a potential chink in the armour which will be picked up on by whoever comes through the Leinster final. Certain Crokes defenders, given the opposition went with four in attack, did not look comfortable without a man to mark.
Kevin Keavey kicked their first point after 13 minutes, with Darragh McDonagh doubling their tally. Having ghosted through the centre on 19 minutes, Oisin Looney, when fed by Clare hurler Conor Cleary, fired the ball past Murphy to cut the gap to five, 1-7 to 1-2. That was as close as they’d come. Eoin Cleary subsequently missed a free, with Crokes quickly throwing over two on the bounce through Casey and Brian Looney.
The 1-10 to 1-4 interval scoreline suggested all was not lost for Neylon’s charges, but instead of eating into their opponents’ lead upon the restart, they were outscored by 0-4 to 0-1 in the 10 minutes after half-time.
Micheál Burns’ 37th-minute point meant all starting six forwards had contributed from play. A fine Johnny Buckley effort from the 45-metre line later in the half extended that to the front eight. By way of contrast, Miltown-Malbay did not register their first second-half score from play until full-back Enda O’Gorman split the posts on the three-quarter hour mark.
The slew of talent which came in off the Crokes bench meant the gap continued to widen as the finishing line came into view. Jordan Kiely found the target with his first involvement and while Colm Cooper was off-target subsequently, he did tee up Burns for his second.
That Pat O’Shea’s troops can kick 1-21 on the final weekend of November, when not motoring at full throttle, is the latest warning those still in the hunt for All-Ireland glory should take heed of.
T Brosnan (0-8, 5 frees); D Casey (0-3, 2 frees); D Shaw (1-0); B Looney, M Burns, K O’Leary (0-2 each); J Buckley, G O’Shea, S Murphy (0-1 ‘45), J Kiely (0-1 each).
D McDonagh (1-2); E Cleary (0-3, 0-2 frees); O Looney (1-0); K Malone (0-2); K Keavey, E O’Gorman (0-1 each).
S Murphy; J Payne, M Moloney, S Doolan; D O’Leary, F Fitzgerald, G White; J Buckley, D Casey; M Burns, G O’Shea, B Looney; D Shaw, K O’Leary, T Brosnan.
M Potts for Doolan (40 mins); C Cooper for Looney (44); A O’Sullivan for Moloney (48); J Kiely for Shaw (50); D Naughten for D O’Leary (55); B Fitzgerald for Burns (59).
S O’Brien; E O’Gorman, Gordon Kelly, E O’Brien; C Hehir, A McGuane, J O’Connor; O Looney, C Cleary; K Keavey, E Cleary, K Malone; B Curtin, D McDonagh, C Murray.
M Murray for Hehir (29 mins, inj); E Curtin for Keavey (HT); Graham Kelly for O’Connor (43); S Malone for Curtin (50); E Reidy for McGuane (55); G Malone for Looney (60).
A Kissane (Waterford).
The 60-Second Report
IT MATTERED
Crokes’ start. They led 1-6 to 0-0 after 13 minutes. Miltown-Malbay were never going to be allowed to pull back a nine-point deficit.
CAN’T IGNORE
The depth of the Crokes bench again stood out. Colm Cooper, Eoin Brosnan, Jordan Kiely, Michael Potts, David Naughten and Billy Courtney have all won All-Ireland medals with Kerry at various grades but cannot nail down a place on this team.
GOOD DAY
From the starting team put out by Pat O’Shea, nine players - John Payne, Michael Moloney, Fionn Fitzgerald, David O’Leary, Shane Doolan, Johnny Buckley, Daithí Casey, Brian Looney and Kieran O’Leary - collected their fifth provincial club medal in this decade alone.
BAD DAY
A final which was over almost as soon as it began rounded off one of the poorest Munster club football championships in recent memory. Average winning margin across the five games was 12 points. The closest game was the semi-final between Miltown-Malbay and the Nire, the Clare champions having eight to spare at the final whistle.
SIDELINE SMARTS
Miltown-Malbay, in a bid to manage the Crokes attack, pulled two players from their forward line-up back the field. Brian Curtin was stationed in front of the full-back line, while Kevin Keavey served as a part-time sweeper. The latter provided an extra body in the Miltown-Malbay half-back line, but was also expected to get forward each time they broke into the opposition half. The concession of 1-21 tells you the extent to which the Crokes attack was held.
BEST ON SHOW
Tony Brosnan was the one Crokes forward the Miltown-Malbay defence could not get to grips with. Contributed two points during their opening 1-6 burst, the second of which was an absolutely sublime score given the tightness of the angle.
MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Alan Kissane took a bit of stick from the Milltown-Malbay supporters throughout, but overall, there weren’t too many of his decisions that you could quibble with.
WHERE NEXT?
Dr Crokes play the Leinster champions in the All-Ireland semi-final in February of next year. The Leinster final, between Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin and Longford’s Mullinalaghta, is scheduled for Sunday week, December 9.
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