Dingle know there's plenty to improve upon for Munster final with the Barrs
Mark O'Connor of Dingle gathers possession during the Munster Club SFC semi-final against Mungret St. Pauls at Austin Stack Park in Tralee, Kerry. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
While Dingle cruised to a 19-point demolition of an understrength Mungret St Paul’s in the Munster club SFC semi-final at a wet and windy Austin Stack Park, manager Padraig Corcoran is looking for improvement in advance of the provincial decider.
Goals in either half from Conor Geaney put the gloss on a victory for the Kerry champions where they never needed to move through the gears, but there was sufficient sloppiness and rustiness in the first half display to concern the brains trust.
“The aim was to win the game. They were down six or seven fellas from their county championship team, and that inhibited them today. I thought in the first half we were only so-so, even though we were 1-8 to no score up. We knuckled down, and we were better in the second half,” said Corcoran.
“We were just disappointed with some of our handling, and our final pass wasn’t great. We left a couple of scores behind us, but 1-8 wasn’t bad kicking, although we would have been happier with a bit more,” he added.
Having won the Limerick title for the first time two weeks ago, Mungret St Paul’s were rocked by the absence of five starters from the side that beat Newcastle West – including inter-county duo Darragh O’Hagan and Jason Hassett. As a result, they were always up against it.
Then, finding themselves playing against the elements from the throw-in was a further blow to their prospects of making a competitive fight of it. When Conor Geaney buried Dingle’s opening goal as early as the second minute, the order of the afternoon was set.
Niall Geaney, lining out further forward than usual, took the most kudos for Dingle, hammering over four points (including an orange flag) in the first eight minutes. His overall display stood out in a team performance which improved on the resumption.
Dingle certainly would not have been happy with a 12-minute scoreless spell with the wind at their backs, broken by Matthew Flaherty’s 20th minute point. Despite that sluggish period, the gap was out to eleven (1-8 to 0-0) at half-time as Mungret toiled to no avail.
At the back, the Limerick champions had strong outings from Oisín Moss, Tom Lloyd, Ciarán Uwatse and youngster Conor Ó Longaigh, but they were toothless in attack, and seeing Shane Barry hobble off at the interval didn’t help their attacking penetration.
Finally breaking their scoring duck with a Lloyd placed ball in the 47th minute (they would only add another free through substitute Luke Walsh), their list of absentees left Mungret out of their depth as Dingle showed a lot more cohesion after the break.
An excellent 41st minute move involving Dylan and Niall Geaney concluded in the former supplying the assist for Conor Geaney to tap home his second goal. With Mark O’Connor dominant around the middle, and Tom O’Sullivan probing from deep, the winners ploughed on.
Despite such a heavy defeat to conclude their season, Mungret St Paul’s manager Kevin O’Hagan wasn’t going to let the result define their year. With a thriving underage section, and the population trends in the area, the future looks bright.
“When you look at the score, you’re going to say that it’s a tough day at the office, but it would be worse if we weren’t here. When we reflect on the score, we will be saying that it was disappointing, because I thought we played well in the first half,” he said.
“We’ve had a wonderful year, a fantastic year. The club is going in the right direction. It’s well supported from out in the community. When we watch this video, there will be huge lessons on what to do right. This year has been a positive.”
In the last quarter, Dingle were able to utilise their bench to good effect, with one of the replacements, Cathal Bambury, kicking their final point. A Munster final against St Finbarr’s now hovers into view, as they aim to erase the painful shoot-out memories of 2023.
C Geaney 2-2, N Geaney 0-4 (1tp), P Geaney 0-3, T O’Sullivan 0-2, D Geaney 0-2 (0-1f), M Flaherty, C Bambury 0-1 each.
T Lloyd 0-1(f), L Walsh 0-1(f).
G Curran; Brian O’Connor, T Leo O’Sullivan, T O’Sullivan; A O’Connor, C Flannery, P O’Connor; M O’Connor, Billy O’Connor; T de Brún, P Geaney, D Geaney; C Geaney, M Flaherty, N Geaney.
C Bambury for Flaherty (42), N Ryan for Billy O’Connor (48), M Geaney for P Geaney (52), R McCarthy for C Geaney (52), D O’Sullivan for M O’Connor (56).
R McElligott; C Ó Longaigh, R Hegarty, C Uwatse; L Harrington, O Moss, T Lloyd; J Somers, J McCarthy; J Killian, D O’Sullivan, K Ryan; S Barry, J Hutton, Darragh Bridgeman.
L Walsh for Barry, inj (ht), C Rochford for Harrington (48), David Bridgeman for Killian (48), C Mangan for Hutton (52), E B Ryan for Somers (58).
E Morrissey (Waterford).
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