Dr. Crokes have now done back to back Kerry club championships.
The Killarney club defeated Dingle convincingly in an explosive Austin Stack Park affair on Sunday afternoon in the ‘club’ championship final – the first of the two senior county championships that take place every year in the Kingdom.
Sunday’s final was not the main event but it is still highly valued and competitively contested amongst the participating clubs. It is so because the winners go forward into the Munster club if the county championship is won by a divisional outfit and there is always a strong possibility of that.
The difference between the club final and the main event is that divisional and district sides composed of players from smaller clubs compete in the county championship . This process sees the formation of teams like South Kerry and Feale Rangers.
Down to the action, Dingle got off to a solid start with Conor and Paul Geaney scoring early points but it wasn’t long before the Crokes asserted their authority and class on the game.
Tony Brosnan, Micheal Burns and Colm Cooper were to the fore as the pre-game favourites piled on the pressure. They weren’t helped by a straight red card former Kerry captain Fionn Fitzgerald in the 20th minute of the game but that wouldn’t restrain them much.
That came just after a 19th minute Michael Geaney goal which was traditionally celebrated by the Dingle Twitter manager, and the Gaeltacht side might have hoped that it would provide a platform for them to get back into this game.
Hup you boy you @mikeygeaney, goal for Dingle
— CLG Daingean Uí Chúis (@DingleGAA) April 29, 2018
But to bring an end to a crazy three minute spell, Geaney himself was sent for an early shower when he received a black card in the 21st minute of the game.
That opening half also saw Barry O’Sullivan black carded for the underdogs and Mícheál Flannery followed him into the bin just after half time.
All the while, Crokes were stretching away from their opponents with veteran Kieran O’Leary, Daithí Casey and Johnny Buckley to the fore. They went onto win by 1-18 to 1-11 but that wasn’t before Breandán Kelliher would receive a red card, becoming the fifth man to receive his marching orders.
Senior Club Final
Full time
Dr Crokes: 1-18(21)
Dingle: 1-8(11) pic.twitter.com/TeQRYWfRYI— Dr. Crokes GAA (@DrCrokesGAA) April 29, 2018
Some were criticising the referee’s willingness to brandish his cards, with Kerry sports commentator Mortimer Murpy claiming the game was a victim of ‘over officiating.’
@drcrokesgaa looked awesome today but too many cards on both sides – the game is being ruined by over officiating – @DingleGAA will be back so I do write nice things about Dingle – I hate being blamed in the wrong and Sean Geaney is a pure gent – Well done to @nagaeilgaa too
— Mortimer Murphy (@MortimerMurphy1) April 29, 2018
Last year, the final of this competition didn’t take place until September. So it’s a credit to the Kerry county board that, with the fixtures being played off at a rapid and consistent rate down south, it was completed before we even made it into May this year.
