Stars shining ahead of Kenmare Shamrocks and Dingle showdown

BURSTING FORWARD: Seán O’Shea was superb for Kenmare Shamrocks on Saturday as they secured a club championship final spot. File pic: Don MacMonagle

A quick turnaround and the relentless run of games has meant many inter-county stars struggle to excel upon their return to club action. Nowhere is that more understandable than in the Kingdom, where frontliners soldiered through an arduous campaign, fell short and returned to face week-on-week onslaughts.

Early on there may well have been signs of a slow transition but Jack O’Connor’s charges look right at home now. Up and running. Shining. Leading. Sean O’Shea was superb for Kenmare Shamrocks on Saturday versus Dr Crokes as they secured a club championship final spot. He kicked eight points from ten shots, one from play, two marks, one 45 and the usual bagful of frees. O’Shea also had an assist while he was marked by a double-team of Mark Fitzgerald with Fionn Fitzgerald out in front.

The Kerry championship is a bearpit. It has often been said. It can’t be said enough. Kenmare were in a relegation play-off last year. They’ll play Dingle in the club final on Saturday. For O’Shea, this stretch has proved the perfect tonic to the disappointment of an All-Ireland final defeat, as he told Clubber post-match.

“It is a great way to get back on the horse,” he explained. “You’d be very down after that. I don’t know do you ever really recover from it. It is great to get back to the club, the lads were working ferociously hard all year throughout the county league and they were training like dogs to give this championship a rattle.”

On Saturday, Dingle cruised past Spa to take their place in the showpiece. In that one-sided semi-final, 32-year-old Paul Geaney was sensational. They lost midfielder Barry Dan O’Sullivan to an ankle injury suffered at the throw-in and his brother Darragh also departed before half-time.

In their absence, Geaney drifted out the field and racked up 30 possessions. He scored 1-2, won five kickouts, had two assists and four secondary assists, including winning the throw-in at the start of the second half and immediately delivering a pinpoint long ball to Conor Geaney who laid off for Dylan Geaney to score.

It is fitting that these two well-coached sides meet in the decider. They share numerous similarities as last weekend showed. Both finished with an identically impressive conversion of 71%. The majority of their scores came from their own kickout. They both scored a point from winning a throw-in. The two teams dropped a starting forward deep in Mikey Geaney and Kevin O’Sullivan. They both started off letting their opposition go short from the kickout. In total, 22 of 25 Spa kickouts went short against Dingle. They scored 0-7 from that source. Dingle outscored them and hit back with 1-5 when they turned over short restarts.

Dr Crokes were noticeably better at working the attack and in the second half Kenmare responded by pressing the kickout.

Both clubs have Kerry All-Ireland winners on their management ticket, with Mickey Ned O’Sullivan alongside Kenmare’s Kieran Moriarty while Pádraig Corcoran is joined by selector and coach Tommy Griffin.

It should be said that the load was shared as well. Kenmare’s man of the match was midfielder James McCarthy, who assisted four points. Stephen O’Brien created two scores in the first half and finished with the final two before the closing bell.

Meanwhile, Dingle demonstrated once again why they are East Kerry’s main rivals for the county championship. Goalkeeper Gavin Curran retained 89% of his kickouts which led to 0-10. Cornerback Conor Flannery stuck to Dara Moynihan all day, limiting him to a single score. Tom O’Sullivan kicked his sixth point in four games from centre-back while Dylan Geaney’s stunning form at 11 continued as he finished with three points and seven assists.

The loss of the O’Sullivans may yet prove crucial. Corcoran has stressed during the campaign that the short turnaround between fixtures is a serious challenge. “It will test the panel,” he sagely predicted before the knockout stages. Mikey Geaney, who was removed as a blood substitute last week against Kerins O’Rahillys, was also sporting a heavy bandage around his head.

There is no break coming anytime soon either. Both finalists face a quick turnaround and will have played eight games in eight weeks by the end of the county championship group stages. That blitz strengthens the need for AFL talent Mark O’Connor to return and bolster their squad as he did in 2022.

Given East Kerry’s current muscle, an additional element of Saturday’s showdown is the possibility the winners will go on to represent Kerry in the Munster club championship. Kerins O’Rahillys were without numerous key players and did not win a game in the county championship last season but were able to produce a provincial run having beaten Templenoe in the club final. Of the three main contenders for the Kerry county championship, only one is a club. Dingle will be well-fancied and can take a significant step on Saturday.

Kenmare Shamrocks will be well aware of that too.

Dingle play Kenmare Shamrocks in the Kerry Petroleum Senior Club Championship Final on Saturday at 7pm in Austin Stack Park.