A new Crowley makes headlines as East Kerry claim fourth Kerry title in five years
TELLING CONTRIBUTION: East Kerry's Luke Crowley celebrates after scoring a goal with Paudie Clifford. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady
RUTHLESS, killing machines tend to be devoid of emotion anyway but there was something oddly humdrum and matter-of-fact about East Kerry’s celebration of their fourth Kerry SFC title in five years.
Perhaps it was that sense of quiet satisfaction that they possessed the nous and experience to see off a spirited late revival at Austin Stack Park from Mid Kerry that reduced the final to a one-point game in injury time and injected some sorely-needed tension into the occasion.
The victory, however it was toasted, should not be understated in terms of significance.
This now represents an era of senior championship dominance for East Kerry that revives comparisons to their predecessors who won three-in-a-row from 1997 to 1999 and were introduced to the Tralee crowd at half-time on Sunday.
It offers this East Kerry group the opportunity of their own three-in-a-row in 2024, but whether they will have everyone on board again remains to be seen.
Fossa’s shooting stars can complete their remarkable rags-to-riches story in two weeks with an IFC final win over Milltown-Castlemaine which would promote them to senior and mean the likes of David and Paudie Clifford are unavailable to East Kerry next year. Game-changing losses, one would think.
Though perhaps not. Their manager Jerry O’Sullivan (and coach Arthur Fitzgerald) have done a sterling job keeping East Kerry front, centre and successful and anyone who believes he has the easiest job in Gaelic football hasn’t really grasped the mechanics of putting a successful divisional outfit together.
Six of Sunday’s starting side were winning their first SFC and when the likes of Kilcummin’s Paul O’Shea or Legion’s Will Shine can’t get a look in and Glenflesk’s Luke Crowley can’t get a starting jersey, the ongoing success story that is East Kerry is largely dependent on their own appetite.
Remember, they’ve won seven of the last eight Kerry minor football titles too, so they aren’t going anywhere.
Manager Jerry O’Sullivan’s advice for any side – club or division – looking to knock them off their perch?
“What do we want to do (with the championship)? Flip it on its head because it is not working for some people. I'd always say if I was down, I need to get to that level. And anyone can get to that level. What did we do when we got beaten in the semi-final in 2018 against Dingle? It was a tough game, two fellas sent off. What did we do the following year? Went out and we won it. Why? because we knuckled down and we got back. That's what other teams have to do.”
That may be greeted with a wry smile from some clubs, of course. It’s easy to assume East Kerry is some sort of super-division but it is still selecting from eight clubs.
The difference is that the cycle of football power resides in that golden triangle now from Kilcummin to Gneeveguilla and out to Glenflesk. Once that power sat in Tralee, west Kerry or south Kerry. Not anymore.
Mid Kerry are about the next best thing in Kerry football at the moment, and they, like the champions, have four intermediate sides in their number. Here they were meticulous, game, and organised but they didn’t bring any chaos to the occasion until they set about an unlikely rescue act in the closing minutes.
It was the final that needed the champions knocked out of their stride, have their tempo and nonchalance disrupted and there was little to signal anything such as the game ticked into its last five minutes. Entering the 57th minute, Mid Kerry trailed by five (2-10 to 0-11).
Then Mike Breen pointed, Eanna O’Connor added another free, Beaufort midfielder Sean O’Brien was on target and in the third minute of injury time sub Liam Carey fisted Mid Kerry’s fourth point on the trot.
Suddenly, those of a certain age were cast back to 1982 and Croke Park, and Kerry seeing out the five in a row against Offaly.
Cue the first hint of stress in the East Kerry ranks but it was noteworthy that when cool heads were required, none were more assured than Jack Sherwood, who re-positioned himself closer to his own goal to ensure there would be no Darby moment.
The presentation of East Kerry’s three-in-a-row heroes from 1997 to 1999 strirred some potent memories for the 5,000 or so present as some old Kingdom favourites were rolled out, not least among them Seamus Moynihan.
Before him was his barrelling Glenflesk colleague Johnny Crowley, a lethal finisher in his time. How impressed was he as his teenage son Luke strolled into the final in the 46th and turned it decisively East Kerry’s way with his first and deadliest contribution?
The younger Crowley has already made an impact with St Brendan’s and the Kerry U20s but nothing as emphatic as this.
He played a pair of one-twos on the terrace side of the field with David Clifford and Donal O’Sullivan before dashing through the heart of the Mid Kerry defence to find the net for East Kerry’s second goal.
That made it 2-8 to 0-9 and should have sealed off any escape route for Mid Kerry.
It was only Eanna O’Connor’s delightful free-taking that was keeping East Kerry honest but Peter O’Sullivan’s side found another gear in the closing stages to put the frighteners on the champions.
“They’re the ones to win,” reflected Jerry O’Sullivan. “Right down to the wire, it shows the character that you have. One slip of the ball would have cost us because Mid Kerry were never going to go away. We knew that inside in our dressing room. I don’t think anyone else knew it but we knew it inside, what they can produce.
“We had to get that last kick-out off and fair play to Brian (Kelly), he showed the experience there. The lads worked the ball out and I think Jack Sherwood was fouled for a free which closed out the game.”
Cillian Burke, the Mid Kerry attacker attracting a lot of interest in a Kerry context, had edged his side 0-4 to 0-3 in front in the 23rd minute, a minute after David Clifford had made his first meaningful contribution with a point from play.
It only took a stray kickout from Beaufort’s Sean Coffey – a son of Kerry great Mary Joe Curran - in the 27th minute to change the course and feeling of the decider. East Kerry’s Ronan Buckley collected unhindered, moved possession quickly to Darragh Roche who found the onrushing Paudie Clifford for the finish.
Within three minutes, David Clifford had added a third point of the half, and Roche danced inside to point impressively off his left side. In the space of seven minutes, Mid Kerry had gone from a point in front to five down. They trailed 1-6 to 0-5 at the break and few outside their dressing room felt a dramatic turnaround was on the cards.
Eanna O’Connor smoked two frees from distance in the 38th and 40th minutes to make it a two-point game, 1-7 to 0-8 before cool hand Luke strolled onto the pitch looking to make some noise.
That he did.
D Roche (0-5, 3 frees), D Clifford (0-3, 1 free), P Clifford (1-0), L Crowley (1-0), D O’Sullivan (0-2).
E O’Connor (0-6, frees), G O’Grady (0-2), F Clifford (0-2, 1 free), M Breen, S O’Brien, G Horan, C Burke, L Carey (0-1 each).
B Kelly (Legion); C Lynch (Glenflesk), C O’Leary (Kilcummin), D O’Callghan (Kilcummin); C Gammell (Legion), J Sherwood (Firies), D O’Brien (Glenflesk); K Murphy (Kilcummin), R Buckley (Listry); D Lyne (Legion), P Clifford (Fossa), P Darcy (Glenflesk); D Clifford (Fossa), D Roche (Glenflesk), D O’Sullivan (Kilgarvan).
N Donohue (Firies) for O’Callaghan (24); L Crowley Glenflesk) for Darcy (45); E O’Shea (Fossa) for Lyne, M Rennie (Fossa) for Murphy (both 52); F Murphy (Legion) for D O’Sullivan (58).
S Coffey (Beaufort); P Wrenn (Milltown-Castlemaine), N Breen (Beaufort), D Mangan (Laune Rangers); D Roche (Milltown-Castlemaine), M Breen (Beaufort), P Kilkenny (Glenbeigh-Glencar); S O’Brien (Beaufort), G Horan (Milltown-Castlemaine); D Houlihan (Cromane), F Clifford (Laune Rangers), K Evans (Keel); G O’Grady (Glenbeigh-Glencar), C Burke (Milltown-Castlemaine), E O’Connor (Milltown-Castlemaine).
E Coffey (Besufort) for N Breen (17, inj); D Cleary (Laune Rangers) for Houlihan (39); G Hassett (Laune Rangers) for Clifford (45), J Brosnan (Glenbeigh-Glencar) for Horan (47), L Carey (Beaufort) for Brosnan (53, inj).
P Hayes (Kerins O’Rahillys).
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