From Kerry semi-final to relegation final: Dr Crokes face Killarney rivals Legion in survival battle

Gearoid Savage, Kerins O'Rahillys, and Brian Looney, Dr Crokes, in action during the Kerry SFC semi-final at Austin Stack Park. Photo: Domnick Walsh

All roads lead to Tralee Sunday for Kerry’s county football final between Kerins O’Rahilly’s and Austin Stacks?

Not if you’re from Killarney and Dr Crokes or Legion is your poison. Before the ball is even thrown in for the blue riband in Tralee at 3pm, one of Killarney’s deadliest rivals will have lost their senior status in a noon round of Russian Roulette – Kingdom style.

Anyone thinking, ‘hang on, didn’t Crokes just lose the SFC semi-final to Kerins O’Rahilly’s by a point?’, you’d be bang on.

However, how the former All-Ireland champions are 60 minutes from relegation to the intermediate grade, demands an explanation.

Ultimately, it’s the price Kerry pays for making its premier championship as cut throat as possible.

They have shaved the number of senior clubs down to eight — eight divisional sides then make up the 16-team Kerry SFC.

If you said that there are too few club teams and too many divisional outfits in the championship, you’d probably find yourself sharing common ground with a lot of folk in the county. And that might be the case next season as a Championship review group in the county is currently examining the structure of the championship.

There are two complicating factors at play here for Kerry — one outside their control. The GAA’s split season has been broadly welcomed by the proletariat but it has made life a little awkward for administrators in the Kingdom, who also run a Club Senior Football Championship earlier in the season with their secondary grades.

With so many Kerry players tied up with the county at that stage, the latter stages can run to the autumn. This season, it only kicked off in the autumn. The Club championship, among the eight senior teams, is based on two groups of four, three games each with the bottom sides in each group playing off to remain senior — hence, Legion and Dr Crokes with the nasty December bogey prize.

Kerry chairman Tim Murphy accepts that the split campaign in the county can throw up anomalies like tomorrow’s.

“Divisional sides can’t be relegated from the county championship and either Na Gaeil or Beaufort will be promoted from (Saturday’s) Intermediate county final, so one senior team has to make way. The review committee’s final report has been delayed due to the uncertainty over the 2022 national programme but we expect that recommendations will be presented to the County Board in January or February,” he said.

Legion finished pointless in a Club Championship group with Austin Stacks, Dingle and Kerins O’Rahilly’s — a wickedly difficult group as things would transpire, with the Tralee pair in Sunday’s SFC decider. A far bigger surprise was Dr Crokes finishing bottom of a group that contained winners Kenmare, plus Templenoe and Spa – Crokes’ only win coming against the latter. It was a tight group, with the winners on four points, but it was a portent of things to come for Crokes, who have developed a habit of letting winning leads slip.

Edmond O’Sullivan and his management team, which includes Colm Cooper, will firmly believe that Dr Crokes should be in a county final on Sunday — and not a relegation play off. They led Kerins O’Rahilly’s by six points at one stage in the SFC semi-final.

After escaping to victory on penalties against Killarney neighbours Spa, Legion were soundly beaten by St Brendan’s in the quarter-final of the county championship. Unquestionably they go into Sunday’s duel at Fitzgerald Stadium as the outsiders, but Stephen Stack and his players know that if they can play on Dr Crokes’ nerves, they might force their esteemed neighbours to play the occasion more than the opposition.

“The original idea of eight senior teams was to reduce the quantity and enhance the quality of the senior championship and while there is a lot of support to increase that up to ten, there is also a proud tradition of divisional sides in Kerry, which ensures that every player, from the smallest rural junior club, has the facility to play in the senior championship, on the biggest stage” explained Kerry chairman Murphy, who concludes his term of office at Monday’s annual convention.

Sunday: Kerry SFC relegation play-off, Dr Crokes v Legion, Fitzgerald Stadium, 12pm.