'To win it once is tough enough, but to win it again is great' - Crokes hold off Na Gaeil to retain title
WINNING FEELING: Dr Crokes players and supporters celebrate with the cup. Pic: INPHO/Bryan Keane
The untamable brilliance of Tony Brosnan and Gavin White stood out at Austin Stack Park yesterday as Dr Crokes overcame a late Na Gaeil rally to retain their Kerry senior club football championship title with more than a bit to spare.
While, as per usual, the collective work of the winners stood out against the wind in the second half, it was the magic produced principally by their dynamic double act that was the topic on everyone’s lips. A tally of 0-14 between the outstanding pair says its own story of their particular influence.
Brosnan was a nightmare for Na Gaeil from the very early stages. The corner-forward had six points from play in the first half, and added a brace in the second period. White was just as imperious from centre-back, raising two orange flags in a personal six-point haul.
No wonder Dr Crokes manager Andrew Kennelly couldn’t help but wax lyrical about his two star performers on the day. In an overall context, the Killarney club were simply thrilled to put back-to-back crowns together.
“You don’t get eight points in Austin Stack Park if you’re not playing at the top of your game. In fairness to Tony, he was superb today. He did everything, his movement inside there, his kicking was exhibition stuff,” said Kennelly.
“Gavin White is Gavin White, we’ve watched Gavin doing it with Kerry all year. His runs are just very hard to stop and, in fairness to him, he’s in the right positions at all times.
“It’s great to do it back-to-back. We wanted to get in here and get a job done. I was reminded there that to win it once is tough enough, but to win it again is great. It’s unbelievable, it was a great performance by our players today.”
Opting to play with the strong wind to their backs in the opening half and, despite Diarmuid O’Connor opening the scoring for Na Gaeil with a fine point, Dr Crokes built a seven-point lead by the half-time break (0-12 to 0-5), with all but one point coming from either Brosnan or White.
With Mark O’Shea excellent around the middle of the field all afternoon, the Tralee side never managed to dominate the primary possession battle. Keeping their opponents at arm’s length for the majority of the second half, Dr Crokes were 10 points up (0-19 to 0-9) by the 54th minute.
“A lot of punditry doubted us (around the middle) during the week, and that Na Gaeil were the favourites there. We felt we were underdogs as our middle third wasn’t supposed to be strong enough. I thought our middle third today was superb, and we came out on top,” added Kennelly.
“There was good control there (in the second half). You had to control it with that wind. There were times it looked a bit lethargic going across the field but, with that wind, everything had to be smart, and players had to do the right thing.”
To give due credit to Na Gaeil, they never threw in the towel, with Stefan Okunbor and Jack Sheehan (who finished with 0-5) leading the charge. Indeed, they had renewed hope in the 57th minute when Diarmuid O’Connor fisted to the net.
A Sheehan two-pointer reduced the deficit to four points, but back came White to restore some calm for Dr Crokes, creating the opening for substitute Alex Hennigan to strike over the insurance point. Na Gaeil also lost Enda O’Connor to a late, late black card.
“I thought we probably didn’t have as good a performance as we were hoping. They controlled the game really from early doors. I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved up to this point, but I don’t think we’ve done ourselves justice today,” said Na Gaeil manager Donal Rooney.
“We didn’t bring enough chaos to the whole thing. Whether we were allowed was another thing, with them dictating the terms of the game. Shane Murphy’s kick-outs were absolutely unbelievable for the whole game.
“In this day and age, if you can’t get your hands on enough ball, it makes it difficult, especially against a team like Crokes. The lads gave everything. Were they fresher than us? Probably, but you saw us finishing off strongly.
“Maybe it’s just that it was a final and with their experience, they probably had that bit more energy, and our boys would have used up that energy thinking about things and getting prepared for the game,” he added.
T Brosnan 0-8, G White 0-6 (2tp), M Burns 0-2, T Doyle, C McMahon, B Looney, A Hennigan 0-1 each.
D O’Connor 1-2, J Sheehan 0-5 (1tp), A Barry, N O’Mahony, J O’Connor, O Maunsell, S O’Connor 0-1 each.
: S Murphy; M Potts, F Fitzgerald, N O’Shea; C Fitzgerald, G White, E Looney; M O’Shea, B Courtney; M Burns, G O’Shea, B Looney; T Brosnan, T Doyle, C McMahon.
Subs: K O’Leary for Doyle (40), M Cooper for C Fitzgerald (45), A Hennigan for McMahon (55), D Shaw for Burns (60).
: C Bohane; N O’Mahony, S Okunbor, E O’Connor; J Doyle, A Barry, F Barry; J Barry, D O’Connor; J O’Connor, O Maunsell, T Ó hAiniféin; P Doyle, D Devine, J Sheehan.
Subs: K O’Connor for Devine (40), D Reen for P Doyle (40), E Doody for O’Mahony (44), S O’Connor for Ó hAiniféin (49), R Ó hAiniféin for J O’Connor (56).
: B Griffin (Clounmacon).
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
