Dr Crokes 1-15 Dingle 0-12
Dr Crokes were made to work for their place in the Kerry GAA history books as they withstood strong Dingle pressure in the second period to win Sunday’s county final by six points.
The win puts the two-time All-Ireland senior club champions top of the roll of honour in the county with 13 titles.
Gavin White’s goal late on in the encounter, following a defence splitting burst from the halfback, sealed the victory. Dingle had narrowed the deficit to two points before that, although Crokes led this tight affair for the most part and were deserving of their win.
Paul Geaney had given Dingle a 0-2 to 0-1 lead after four minutes, but Crokes kicked on with the next seven points to take control of proceedings with 25 minutes gone. Two points from centre-back Tom O'Sullivan brought Dingle back within two at half-time however - the west Kerry side trailed by 0-8 to 0-6.
Dingle pressed for a goal after the restart but Shane Murphy made a stunning save to deny Geaney and keep Crokes in front.
The Killarney club had too much for their opponents however and the late goal made for a relatively comfortable finale. The win completes their second three-in-a-row this decade, and a seventh title this decade.
Dr Crokes: S Murphy; J Payne, M Moloney, F Fitzgerald; D O'Leary, G White (1-1), S Doolan; J Buckley (0-1), D Casey (0-4, 0-3 frees); M Burns, G O'Shea (0-1), B Looney (0-1); D Shaw (0-4), K O'Leary, T Brosnan (0-2).
Subs: C Cooper for O’Shea (37 mins), A O’Sullivan for D O’Leary (44 mins), J Kiely for Brosnan (49 mins), M Potts (0-1) for Shaw (55 mins), E Brosnan for Burns (61 mins) and P Clarke for K O’Leary (62 mins).
Dingle: G Curran; M Flannery, TL O'Sullivan, P O'Connor; M Boyle, T O'Sullivan (0-2), A O'Connor; Billy O'Connor, B O'Sullivan (0-1); Brian O'Connor, M Geaney (0-1), P Devane; T Sheehy (0-1), P Geaney (0-6, 0-5 frees), M Flaherty (0-1).
Subs: E Murphy for Devane (42 mins), B Kelliher for Flannery (56 mins) and C Geaney for Sheehy (63 mins).
Referee: S Mulvihill (St Senan’s)
