'I don't think they get the credit they deserve': Dr Crokes finish strongly to see off Kenmare

Kerry SFC Final: Dr Crokes 1-24 Kenmare Shamrocks 2-14

Seven points down after only ten minutes, Dr Crokes produced a trademark resurgence to eventually crush Kenmare Shamrocks’ dreams after an enthralling Kerry county SFC final at Fitzgerald Stadium yesterday afternoon.

Indeed, despite playing against the strong wind in the second half, a punched point by Jack O’Sullivan in the 51st minute allowed Peter O’Sullivan’s side to move into a two-point lead (2-13 to 1-14). At that juncture, with Sean O’Shea inspirational, anything was possible.

Enter the Dr Crokes juggernaut. With four successive two-point specials, all from open play, and courtesy of Tony Brosnan (2), man-of-the-match David Shaw, and Tom Doyle, followed by a Cian McMahon white flag, the Killarney side turned the contest upside down.

That unanswered nine-point blitzkrieg, in the space of five minutes, emphasised yet again, if further proof was needed that the now 15-time Kingdom kingpins are simply an irresistible force when they truly get motoring.

Even without the injured Micheál Burns and Gavin O’Shea, Edmund O’Sullivan’s charges were just sensational when the destination of the Bishop Moynihan Cup was in the melting pot. No wonder the winning manager was delighted in the immediate aftermath.

“It was tough there at times, especially when they got the second goal, but the boys showed incredible fight throughout the year, they dug it out again, and especially in the last ten or twelve minutes I thought we were excellent,” he said.

“So we knew we had the talent, it was just about getting it out, and those lads are, I think, they're a fantastic bunch. I don't think they get the credit they deserve. I think that was our ninth championship game this year, and we lost one and that was with 14 men for 45 minutes.

“Even last year they won the club championship and two years ago they won the club and county championship. You know how hard it is to win championship games in Kerry, club and county. For the last few years they've just been unbelievable.” 

Kenmare Shamrocks, in their very first county decider as a club, got off to the ideal start. After talisman O’Shea fired over a two-point free, Jack O’Sullivan and Tom Murnane created a goal for David Ciuciu, and Jimmy Lehane added a point, in a blistering opening.

Although Alex Hennigan took the bare look off Dr Crokes’ account with an eighth-minute point, there was no respite as their opponents moved seven clear (1-5 to 0-1), with Shane Murphy forced into a stunning save to deny Donal O’Sullivan a second Shamrocks’ green flag.

By the break, however, Dr Crokes had steadied the ship, only trailing by four points (1-8 to 0-7), despite O’Shea taking his tally to 0-6 by the interval. There was a sense heading into the resumption that Kenmare needed a larger advantage.

The start of the second half was crazy. Brian Looney set up Mark O’Shea for a deft volleyed finish, but Kenmare Shamrocks immediately replied down the other end after a mix-up between O’Shea and Murphy from a Stephen O’Brien cross saw Kevin O’Sullivan get the final touch.

O’Shea and Donal O’Sullivan continued to take the game to Dr Crokes, while Shaw showed tremendous leadership for the Lewis Road side. Kenmare Shamrocks just wouldn’t go away, however, until they were blown away in a sensational denouement.

They also saw Jack O'Sullivan sent off for a second yellow card offence with just three minutes to go.

Vanquished Kenmare Shamrocks manager Peter O’Sullivan was understandably gutted at the dramatic turn of events. Shaw’s orange flag score in the 53rd minute was the first time that Dr Crokes even took the lead in the game.

“Crokes are Crokes, they deserve their win at the end of the day. They're a hard team to pin down, they clipped over a couple of two-pointers, off a couple of mistakes on our end, and it's something we would have gone after I suppose, trying to stop them scoring twos,” he said.

“We probably felt maybe at half time that we should have been one or two more points up as well. We still felt we had a chance going out in the second-half. We played well against the breeze for probably 22 or 23 minutes and they just took over towards the end.”

Scorers for Dr Crokes: D Shaw (2tp) and T Brosnan (2tp, 2f) (0-7 each), M O’Shea (1-0), A Hennigan (0-3), T Doyle (0-2, 1tp), C McMahon (0-2), C Fitzgerald, B Looney and C Keating (0-1 each). 

Scorers for Kenmare Shamrocks: S O’Shea (0-9, 3tpf, 2f), D Ciuciu and K O’Sullivan (1-0 each), D O’Sullivan (0-2), J Lehane, J O’Sullivan and T Murnane (0-1 each). 

Dr Crokes: S Murphy; F Fitzgerald, C Fitzgerald, M Fitzgerald; E Looney, G White, B Looney; C Keating, M O’Shea; A Hennigan, D Shaw, T Doyle; T Brosnan, C McMahon, M Lynch.

Subs: A Byrne for M Lynch (46), N O’Shea for C Fitzgerald (52), M O’Carroll for T Doyle, M Potts for C McMahon, B Courtney for D Shaw (all 60). 

Kenmare Shamrocks: K Fitzgibbon; L O’Sullivan, D O’Shea, T Cronin; D McCarthy, D O’Connor, J Lehane; D Ciuciu, K O’Sullivan; J O’Sullivan, S O’Shea, S O’Brien; E McCarthy, D O’Sullivan, T Murnane.

Subs: Z O’Shea for S O’Brien (Temp, 16-18), J Tangney for E McCarthy (38), Z O’Shea for J Lehane (46), D Hallissey for S O’Brien (53). 

Referee: S Joy (Laune Rangers).