Emotional Edmund O'Sullivan implores Crokes to 'keep standard' following Kerry senior triumph

Lifting a 15th county championship crown at Fitzgerald Stadium yesterday was a sweet moment for the Crokes manager

Dr. Crokes manager Edmund O'Sullivan. Pic: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho

For Dr Crokes, it’s all about standards. It’s about keeping that winning tradition going in the Killarney club. It’s about following in the footsteps of the greats of the past. 

Lifting a 15th county championship crown at Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday was a sweet moment for manager Edmund O’Sullivan.

“We know with every Dr Crokes team, there's pressure with it, but you're getting the talent as well. Every year you have to be there or thereabouts in winning county championships. That's what you have to do to be successful,” he said.

“I suppose with the last 15-20 years, Colm Cooper and Kieran O’Leary, they started kicking on, and Eoin Brosnan, they started driving that. It's been phenomenal success since then.

“That's the standard that has to be kept and for people that have to come up to that standard within the club, because we won't be going backwards.

Dr Crokes captain Tony Brosnan hoists the Bishop Moynihan cup. Pic; Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

“The overall emotion after, I thought of Jamie Doolan and Caoimhín O’Donoghue, who I was in management teams with before, Martin Beckett, Kieran Cahalane, who I’d played football with, it all comes running back really.

“Your emotions take over. I’m delighted. All my best friends in football are with the Crokes. We all hang out together and stuff, so just delighted.” 

From seven points down after 10 minutes, and still trailing by two after 51 minutes, O’Sullivan always knew the scoring power that Dr Crokes possess could turn things around. After all, they have been winning plenty of classics in recent weeks.

“Yeah, we were down seven, we won by seven, that's a 14-point turnaround. I know there was a strong breeze there, but by any manner of football, a 14-point turnaround is massive.

“When Mark (O’Shea) got the goal, I said ‘right, we'll kick on here’, then they went up and got a goal and you're kind of saying, can we come again?

Alex Hennigan of Dr Crokes kicks a point at Fitzgerald Stadium. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

“Dr Crokes will score. We've been kicking well since that game. We said we did a lot of things right against Rathmore in the senior club final, but we just didn't finish, and now we're able to finish where our kicking has been excellent.” 

For Kenmare Shamrocks manager Peter O’Sullivan, this was a fourth county final defeat for the Glenbeigh/Glencar man after Mid Kerry just could not get the better of a star-studded East Kerry in recent years. He was gutted for the whole group of players, especially Seanie O’Shea.

“I'm just very, very disappointed for him. There was a nice carrot at the end of it for him, personally, and his family as well, and for the club, it would have been a huge thing. Kenmare will be back again of course, but it's just very hard to get back to county finals,” he stressed.

“Seanie is just a Rolls Royce player, an unbelievable leader. I know you often hear Jack (O’Connor) refer to him as his spiritual leader and you can see why. He's unreal, he's a great man to be fair to him.”