Championship

Kerry County Championship Football - The Spirit of Kerry 2009

October 20th, 2009
by Weeshie Fogarty

The old adage, "they were like chalk and cheese" can be safely applied to last week two county championship semi-finals in Austin Stack Park. The day was perfect for football without a whisper of a breeze and the pitch in superb shape. So perfect and dry was the surface that you could safely walk the grass in you Sunday shoes and come away without a blemish. As always when Kerry are reigning All Ireland champions the crowds flock to see the concluding stages of the championship. And last Sunday there was a huge turn out from all parts of the county and beyond. I had begun my Sunday in Kilcummin to see my own side Killarney Legion fight tooth and nail to defeat a very good Rathmore side and thus retain their senior County championship status next year. It was a massive encounter for the lads in green and white and indeed there were a lot of mutterings (and rightly so) around the club during the week in relation to the fact that some teams can be beaten and not required to enter the relegation battle while Divisional sides made up of several clubs are never worried by the specter of relegation for the senior championship. However the argument for and against all this mixed up and unsatisfactory county championship set up remains for another day. Of course there are rules and regulations to govern this but it seems to get more complicated and confusing to the grass root supporter every year.

So it's the club against the divisional side as Crokes and South Kerry once again square up to each other next Sunday week. The South Kerry/Austin Stacks game was a real championship cracker brisling with hard knocks, fast football and some great score taking. I must say I enjoyed it greatly. However the Crokes/Feale Rangers clash was a real damp squib and never got of the ground and from my position in the Radio Kerry commentary box I must admit it was fairly difficult to relay any kind of excitement or atmosphere to the listener. The game never really got of the ground and we saw a succession of incidental frees being awarded and it seemed every second minute there was a player from each side being attended to for injury. Now that it was a dirty match by any means but if all the stoppages were added up I would be fairly certain that the number of minutes the ball was in play would amount to the shortest ever.

However one thing is for sure and ever Croke supporter I met after the game were in joyest mood and rightly so and as one remarked "it's far better to win a very poor game than lose a great one". How right he is.  The departure of footballer of the year Paul Galvin after 13min took some of the expectation from the occasion. He was a huge loss to the North Kerry men. Nevertheless in my opinion his presence would not have been enough to stop the march of the Killarney men. Feale Rangers had been relying a lot on Noel Kennelly in their previous games and the superb defensive play of Crokes full back James Cahillane as he snuffed out the Kennelly treat had a huge bearing on the final result. Then we saw another glimpse of the genius of Colm Cooper. He was instrumental in setting up David Moloney in the 43rd minute of the second half for the goal that really killed off the Rangers challenge at a stage when they led 0-6 to 0-5. A centre from Crokes speedy and classy wing forward Brian Looney broke in the square to Jamie Doolan who in turn swiftly passed to Cooper standing on the verge of the small square. It was now that we saw the defining moment of the hour. Nine out of ten players would have shot for a goal themselves and maybe see their effort saved, however showing wonderful vision, lighting fast reactions and uncanny awareness and vision the Kerry star flicked the ball across the face of the goal where David Moloney rose high to punch the ball to the net past the floundering Shane Quinn in the losers goal. This was the defining moment and from hear on it was really one way traffic and the better footballing side won out.  

While weather conditions had deteriorated for the second game they were perfect as South Kerry and Austin Stacks squared up to face each other. Despite the closeness of the final score here South Kerry were the better side and looked strong, experienced, well organized and with Brian Sheehan once again in impeccable kicking form it took a late late penalty from Kieran Donaghy to give the final score a more respectable look. I have seen all South Kerry's games this year and the magnificent free kicking and indeed over all play of Brian Sheehan has been for me easily the outstanding memory of the championship. He has been impeccable and one side line free last Sunday brought huge roars of approval from one and all. The previous week down in his own stomping ground of the Con Keating Park in Caherceiveen he had done exactly the same. Backed up against the surrounding railing and despite a short run up he curled the ball over the bar from a near an impossible distance and angle. Brian for me is the best free kicker I have ever seen with the exception of his legendary St Mary's club man Maurice Fitzgerald. But let me add, there is very little between them.

Like the goal in the Crokes game it was another great bit of quick thinking from the brilliant Declan o Sullivan that set up the winner's goal in the opening game. Declan availed of a defensive mistake in the Stacks rear guard and while he could have gone on alone he passed to Ronan Hussey and the Sneem/Derrynane lad having his best year ever raised the green flag. They are a deadly due indeed. The introduction of Ian Galvin for South Kerry injected great pace to their attack. The Sneem/Derrynne lad is as fast as Kerry captain Darren o Sullivan and he will challenge strongly for a starting place in the final. However I can understand holding back a young player with such speed as he can cause havoc when introduced against tiring opponents. Stacks can hold their heads high. They contributed to a cracking real championship encounter. This I appreciate is small consolation to them and their wonderful colorful, noisy and rocket exploding band of loyal supporters. They are very close to having a real championship challenging outfit. Kieran Donaghy is their problem. If they could afford to play "Star" at full forward for the whole game then more scores would flash up on the score board. However at the moment it's like robbing Peter to pay Paul as he moves all over the field. One or two more players to join the rest and the Rockies are back.  Now we await the clash of Crokes and South Kerry. Intriguing as former Crokes great and also former trainer John galvin is the man behind the southern challenge and if any man knows the secret of what goes on inside the minds of the Crokes mentors it has to be him. Given favorable weather conditions it promises to be a great final. Who will win? Which ever side concedes the least scoreable free kicks will take home the Bishop Moynihan Trophy. It sounds so simple doesn't it?



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