County Championship

Crokes beat Stacks in the County Final

October 19th, 2010
by Weeshie Fogarty

The old adage "you learn far more from defeat than you do from victory" was certainly copper fastened in no uncertain fashion in Tralee last Sunday when Dr Crokes claimed their seventh and richly deserved county championship victory as they were far superior and experience than Austin Stacks. Recent county final defeats to that star studded and physically strong South Kerry team had left a burning desire and grim determination not to finish as runners once again. And if any club in this country will learn from defeats it is the Crokes. And if any team in the country has that indomitable spirit, tradition and the wonderful footballing skills to over come heart breaking defeats it is the Crokes.  Yes they did go into this game as favourites nevertheless they had to overcome all those haunting losing memories that has prevented many a great side from achieving the highest honors. Harry o Neill and his side line generals had their men fine tuned to a high degree and in my estimation this was as good a fifteen man display as I have ever seen from "the lake side boys". While of course you can never say what or who was the best ever this was undoubtedly one of their most comprehensive and cohesive team performances.

Strong words you may well say. However as a Killarney man having seen every Croke major victory in East Kerry, Kerry, Munster and outside during the last fifty years or more I am convinced that last Sunday's performance would have been too good for any opponent.  So what do I base this statement on? Well in my opinion the biggest problem the winner's mentors had last Sunday was who to take off when the game was well and truly won. A number of substitutes were bound to get on the pitch to copper fasten their medals but rarely if ever you see a situation where each and every player was as good as those around him. Yes it was a terrific performance from one to fifteen. And then there was the genius of Colm Cooper. All the great Kerry goal scoring fordward of the past Mickey Sheehy, John Egan, Tom Long, John "Thorny "o Shea, Eoin Liston, Mick o Dwyer, etc have stamped their greatness on county finals for either club or division. You would always wait and expect them to strike when the need was greatest. And so it was early in the second half as brave Austin Stacks were forcing their way back into contention and had cut the deficit to just one point. William Kirby was winning lots of ball at mid field and successive points from Mickey Collins and Dara Long (2) closed the gap to a mere point.  The wind had freshened, Stacks were against it and had abandoned their mistaken ploy of double marking Cooper as TJ Hogan had constantly dropped back to play in front of the Crokes man. This I believe had curtailed Hogan too much and in previous championship games for the Rockies he had be one of their driving forces.

And then the destination of the Bishop Moynihan Cup was finally decided between the 38th and 40th minutes. Crokes all action captain Brian Looney's long delivery was beautifully read by Gooch and selling a dummy to the excellent John Dennis he curled over a delightful trade mark point. It was now 0-11 to 0-9 and still all to play for. Then came the body blow that would literally finish off the Stacks. Full fordward Daithi Casey (another man of the match) and had a superb game from start to finish raced in on goal from the left wing. Now most players would have opted to punch a point or blast for a goal from that position. But not Casey. He found Cooper with a beautiful hand pass and then we saw the Kerry star finish to the net with the coolness, confidence and deadly clinical precision that only the very best forwards can display. This was the killer blow for Stacks. However in my opinion they will feel aggrieved at not been awarded at least one penalty as they attempted to get back into the game. Kieran Donaghy who was policed all day by the outstanding Crokes defenders and Dara Long appeared to have been fouled however referee Padraig o Sullivan didn't point to the spot. The Firies man had an excellent game; letting the play develop nevertheless the Dara Long claim for me looked a definite penalty.

The Tralee men will learn a lot from their voyage to the final. They are a very proud club. The loss of Daniel Bohane and Graham o Connell proved too much to over come. They added tremendous atmosphere to the occasion and the arrival of their wonderful vocal and colorful army of supporters was one of the abiding memories of another great county final day. Crokes had led 0-8 to 0-6 at the short whistle and the three superb points by midfielder Ambrose "óg" o Donovan were as good as you would see any where in the country and played a huge part in sending Crokes on their winning way. They had stars as I have written all over the field. They intermingled a short passing game with long accurate kicking and here midfielder Johnny Buckley was outstanding and his work rate was better than I have seen from the young star before. For the Tralee men Mickey Collins, Dara Long, Kieran Donaghy, T J Hogan William Kirby and Denis McElligott were best however the laurels rest in Killarney and now knowing the Crokes as I do there will be only one thing in their minds and that is to win the club All Ireland.   Would you bet against them?

Fogra: Over two years hard graft will come to fruition when the ground breaking DVD Secrets of Kerry - A Captains Story will be launched in Caitins pub Kells this Friday 22nd, 9pm and at the Gleneagle Hotel Killarney next Tuesday 26th at 8.30pm. Already it is receiving lavish praise from the national and local media. Kieran Shannon in a two page spread in the Sunday Tribune wrote.

"The history of Kerry is marvelously documented in this stunning DVD. Its compelling and often bitter sweet viewing".

Dermot Crow of the Sunday Independent wrote recently of this four hour film.  

"It captures the anguish and the ecstasy of Kerry captains and its football history more than anything previously seen".

Jim Gorman sports editor of The Kerrys Eye and grandson of Tady Gorman (1903 captain) says

"I has never viewed anything as rich and as beautiful as this".

You are invited to attend one or both of the two launches. It promises to be a memorable occasion. Come along and join in the celebrations. Christy Riordan of C/R videos has done a magnificent job. We expect nothing else from the exemplary and hightly talented Caherceiveen man. In my opinion I believe that time will prove this is the best GAA DVD/film/documentary ever produced. Strong words but I am utterly convinced of this.



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