How Dingle turned heartbreaking defeats into fuel for Munster glory

Paul Geaney is glad his plea to move Dingle's crucial game-winning free closer to goal was ignored by referee Chris Maguire

Dingle captain Paul Geaney celebrates with his wife Siun and daughter Christina after his side's victory over St Finbarr's in the Munster Club SFC final. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The sense of disbelief is sketched all over Paul Geaney’s face. He can’t believe he just watched his cousin kick a two-point wonder free to win Dingle’s first ever provincial crown. He didn’t want it to be a winner.

As referee Chris Maguire was marching up the field to afford Dingle an opportunity to break St Finbarr's heart, captain Geaney was pleading with him. 50 metres should mean it was closer to the goal. An easier kick but only worth one point. They would have taken extra-time.

“Dylan had a big second half and that free was given there at the end, Conor wanted it all over,” he recalls.

“There was no doubt he was saying I'm taking it, I'm having this and he kicked it through and I suppose they're (St Finbarr's) probably as much in shock as I am because it just gave them no chance to reply and probably the perfect way to end the game.

“Maybe it should have been another 10 yards in for 50 metres, and I was kind of arguing that, but, I'm glad I didn't now because it would have been another 30 minutes and we wouldn't know how that would have turned out. I suppose we've been on the other side of it two years ago.” 

Pure pain before the ultimate reward. That is the story of Dingle’s success. Memories of the Gaelic Grounds and Munster final defeat two years ago were still raw in their minds.

It is also the story of Geaney’s season. He endured an injury-blighted intercounty season and played through several issues during the county championship. On Sunday, he was temporarily replaced after a head knock and popped his calf when he returned.

“It has been a dream year in one sense, it has been a very hard psychological year in another sense for me personally. Pulled my calf again there today. I got a bang in the head and I pulled my calf as well.

“It is a tough year mentally for me, but silverware-wise - very, very rewarding. I can't complain with it. Look, the trophy cabinet is very full after this year, so it is great.”

This was the ultimate ambition. That day they met in the Díseart in 2018 when his uncle Sean took over as manager, they looked around the room and saw minor champions all around them. Dingle had won a single club championship and zero county championships. They set the target to reach Croke Park.

In 2023, that penalty shootout defeat to Castlehaven denied them. Last year they were beaten by Dr Crokes in a county decider. That hardship forged resolve.

“That is years of this and years of pain. I suppose even the county final last year. As a group, we met and we watched the Crokes game, and there were some hard questions asked that day and fellas might have felt that we threw in the towel a bit too early again.

“They got the goals probably around the 48, 50 minutes and there was still ten minutes to play and if we played on, we could have snatched it. Like this year we said whatever happens, whatever game it is, we're playing for our people, we're playing for our group and we're going to play it right to the end.” 

He means that literally. When they met, they launched into a several-hour-long video session reviewing that 2024 defeat.

“We watched it because there were lessons there that we needed and we needed to go through the pain of it again.” 

In order to withstand the toll required to scale this summit, it takes an entire community. Geaney thanked a 19-strong backroom team in his victory speech. He looks at the people on the field beside him and casts his mind back to that day in 2023 again. In the aftermath, the goodwill from people around the town was overwhelming. They continued to approach him for months after to thank him for the journey.

Now they get the chance to come together again, this time in pure celebration.

“This group has put everything into it. There's been no stone left unturned. Like there were fellas at six o'clock in the summer they're going doing skill sessions in the morning on a Wednesday with James Weldon.

“There are young fellas there that haven't seen much game time this year. There were seven or eight fellas that played the Gaeltacht a couple of weeks ago and hadn't seen game time for the rest of the year. They got one game in the West Kerry semi-final and they didn't see game time today. They're just fully bought in and it is a beautiful place really for a team when everybody's like that, so as long as that can last, you are going in the right direction.”