Refusal to wave the white flag the catalyst for Dingle's success, insists Geaney 

SCENES: Dingle celebrate after winning. Pic: Nick Elliott

A refusal to wave the white flag once again catalysed Dingle, according to captain Paul Geaney.

A pledge to fight to the bitter end as they have done so often on this eight-game winning run of theirs was fulfilled in Cork on Saturday as they defied a 10-point deficit to win in extra-time.

“It's a lesson that we just learned over the couple of years, getting schoolings in the county championship in Kerry, that we probably over the years just waved the white flag a bit too early and didn't play to the full 60-plus minutes,” said Geaney.

“Crokes was probably the one last year (2024) in the county final where we were in command of the game and they got a couple of goals. I wouldn't say we actually gave up as such but almost as a team we kind of accepted our fate.

“We just said this year after reviewing that game last year that no matter what we were going to play to the full final whistle and see where that takes us. If nothing else, our people will be proud of us. That's the way we've approached it this year.

“We were in the position many times already. We were six or seven down to Mid Kerry in the semi-final. We were losing to Stacks by three or four. In the Munster final, every time we seemed to throw a punch, Finbarr's came back and hit us for two points. It's kind of been like that but we just said, look we're going to stay in the game and play to the final whistle.” 

Geaney’s impact on Dingle upon his introduction at half-time was instant. With eight points, he finished as the game’s top scorer despite missing the first half as he managed a calf injury.

Ten points down after Colm Basquel’s 35th-minute goal, Dingle had to go for broke. 

“Unfortunately, we didn't get to play the first half and I think maybe it lifted the lads when I came in and we started playing front-foot football. We seemed to be dragging them all over the field in the second half and we seemed to dictate the pace of play.

“Our football kind of took over and it was almost playing on instinct. Tactics nearly went out the window, to be honest, in the second half. That suited us, we bridged a nine-point gap. Brought it to six, they got a goal. It was a bit of a sucker punch and then we brought it back again. We had a lot of unlucky patches ourselves with hitting the post and a couple of blocks on the line.

“Did we deserve it in the 60 minutes? Maybe not because they were so dominant in the first half and should have been out of sight, but we did deserve it because we stayed in the battle and we fought it out.” 

Geaney was surprised that he played 50-plus minutes given his calf injury, which he sustained in the Munster final. The intention was to be on the field when the fat was in the fire. As much as that strategy looked dubious at half-time.

“The game is in the melting pot late on and if you play the first 40 or 50 and you re-injure, you're not good enough. You're fatigued and you're gone off and the game is to be won. I was in the dark with it really but now I know I would have got an hour.” 

As for his equalising two-pointer, Geaney made a pact with himself to take it on having elected not to moments earlier. “I actually had a chance just before that from there and I put Mark (O’Connor) through and Mark went for goal and I thought that was it. If we got that point, we were level.

“I said if I get another chance here, I'm taking the shot. It was a bit pass the parcel over there. It went from Dylan (Geaney) to me to someone else to Conor (Geaney) and they threw it back to me and there was a pile of bodies and I said, ‘Look, I'm just having this one because I'll kill myself later if I don't take this shot and we don't even get a shot here.’ I'm the man to take the shot.” 

Now that it has been achieved, Geaney was asked about the 2018 meeting he previously referenced, where the group committed to playing in Croke Park.

“There were maybe a few fellas on the panel at the time that were laughing about it. They're not with us now but it was that far away and it was that far of a journey.

“It just shows in a small club like us or any of the smaller clubs that go to Croke Park, it's not something that you can just decide you're going to do and go do it the next year or the year after. It's a long journey so it's very rewarding that we finally got there.

“Job isn't obviously anywhere done. We want to win the All-Ireland but the first goal was to get to Croke Park and we're going to have a special day out with the club and it's all about winning now, really.” 

Especially with his ailment, Geaney is glad to have the two-week gap to the final whereas his brother-in-law Pádraig’s An Ghaeltacht have what he describes as a “crazy” eight-day turnaround to facing Glenullin in the All-Ireland intermediate decider.

Supporting his wife Siún’s brother and his neighbours in Croke Park next weekend might be asking too much given his own commitments. 

“I don't know because it's a tight old turnaround. We'll probably be training as well. We'll see what the flights are like, and we might go up with the family.

“It's probably unlikely when it's a two-week turnaround for us. Hopefully, they win and there's celebrations next weekend in West Kerry and hopefully the week after again.”