Crokes survive as champions Stacks facing relegation play-off
ON THE SPOT: Tony Brosnan of Dr Crokes.
While the ultimate significance of the result would not be known until the final whistle had gone in the other game in the group in Strand Road, Dr Crokes have for the moment avoided the threat of relegation from the senior ranks in the Kingdom.
And defending three-time winners Austin Stacks must play off with the team they beat in the finals of the last two years, Kenmare Shamrocks, as things stand, to maintain their senior status next year.
In what was a tight game in Lewis Road, the key score of the game came in the 47th minute from a Tony Brosnan penalty as it gave Crokes the breathing space they needed to go on and record a five-point win. Austin Stacks had made the better start in going 0-3 to 0-0 ahead after five minutes as it took the hosts seven minutes to score through young Cian McMahon.
Micheal Burns hit three straight points to put Crokes in front for the first time in the 14th minute as Joe O’Connor levelled the game up for Stacks a minute later at 0-4 apiece. Crucially though for Stacks it was their final score of the first half as they will be very disappointed not to have made more of a numerical advantage for 10 minutes when Brian Looney picked up a black card for the hosts in the 18th minute.
Burns and Brosnan fired over points to give Crokes a lead of 0-6 to 0-4 at the break as a Shane O’Callaghan point 20 seconds after the restart started a trend where Stacks would come back within one before Crokes went back ahead by two. Three Stacks substitutes in Jordan Kissane, Cian Purcell and Conor Horan all scored but they were up against it in the 44th minute when Burns was fouled bearing down on goal and a penalty was awarded to Crokes.
There was a delay of three minutes for the spot-kick as Jack O’Shea received attention but Brosnan sent Wayne Guthrie the wrong way with his kick in making it an unassailable five-point lead at 1-10 to 0-8. Mikey Casey missed a chance for Crokes to get a second, shooting straight at Guthrie but Crokes got good leadership from Burns, Brosnan and David Shaw in getting themselves out of relegation trouble for now at least.
They are still waiting for Gavin White to return from injury ahead of the start of the Kerry SFC on the weekend of September 11th. Stacks’ relegation playoff with Kenmare Shamrocks cannot take place until how they both do in the aforementioned competition is known.
Teams reaching the Kerry SFC final can exempt themselves from relegation in the process and in the unlikely event of both ending up in such a match, Crokes and Na Gaeil (the other third place finisher in the competition) might have to playoff then.
: T Brosnan (1-5, 1-0 pen, 2f), M Burns (0-5, 1f), C McMahon (0-2), B Looney (0-1)
D Mannix (0-3, 1f), J O’Connor, M O’Donnell, M O’Gara, S O’Callaghan, S Quilter, C Horan, J Kissane and C Purcell (0-1 each)
: S Murphy; J Payne, N O’Shea, M Potts; M Cooper, F Fitzgerald, E Looney; M O’Shea, D Shaw; C O’Regan, M Burns, B Looney; T Brosnan, G O’Shea, C McMahon
Subs: D Casey for M Burns, T Doyle for C McMahon (both 52), M Casey for G O’Shea (54) and M Fitzgerald for B Looney (59)
: W Guthrie; C Griffin, B Shanahan, N Fitzmaurice; C Jordan, J O’Shea, A Curran; J O’Connor, M O’Donnell; M O’Gara, S O’Callaghan, A Heinrich; S Quilter, G Fitzgerald, D Mannix
Subs: J Kissane for A Curran, C Purcell for G Fitzgerald (both 40), P O’Sullivan for C Jordan (44), C Horan for S O’Callaghan (49) and E Carroll for A Heinrich (60) Referee: D Clifford (Laune Rangers)
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