No earthquakes or after shocks to worry about in south Dublin yesterday. Kilmacud Crokes, without the need of a trans-city journey after a switch in venues, duly took the field at Pairc de Burca in Glenalbyn and simply did what they had to do in order to overcome a team normally more acquainted with hurleys, in this AIB Leinster club senior football championship first round game.
"We'll play with sticks in the second half," Philly Larkin had quipped at half-time, when the writing was already well and truly on the wall. Crokes, at that stage, had strolled into a 0-10 to 0-1 lead and, although no one can doubt the commitment of the James Stephens players, especially in the second half, there was a huge gulf in footballing standards between the sides.
Indeed, as the match progressed, it appeared that the Kilkenny team's primary objective was to deprive Kilmacud of a goal - and they very nearly succeeded, the Dublin champions breaking through only in the final minute when Pat Bourke's industrious afternoon was rewarded with a goal from a close-range shot. In truth, it was merely the icing on the cake as, by then, Crokes were assured of a quarter-final meeting against Dunboyne on Sunday week when they'll be assured of a greater test.
Yesterday, Crokes were never in trouble. On another day, the sort of misses that Conor O'Dwyer and Ray Cosgrove committed when faced with an open goal in the space of a minute of each other in the first half would have been greeted with derision rather than good-hearted quips from their team's followers.
Crokes were superior in every sector, and their crisp hand-passing was quite at odds with the slower foot passing of their opponents. And, despite shooting 11 wides, their scoring was still sufficiently good to ensure an easy passage, with the marksmanship of Mick O'Keeffe particularly noteworthy. O'Keeffe had a personal tally of seven points, six of them from frees, while Bourke, who had a good duel with Larkin, finished with a total of 1-3.
Playing with the wind in the opening half, Crokes quickly asserted themselves and had coasted into a 08 to 0-1 lead when those bad misses occurred. However, Peter Ward, who worked very hard throughout, and Gavin Duffy finished off the half with a couple of further points from play to give the Dublin side a handsome nine-point advantage at the break.
Stephens, in fairness, showed commendable spirit on the resumption. In fact, their centre half back, John Scott, emerged as one of the best players on the pitch; and when Darren Fitzpatrick kicked their fourth point within nine minutes of the restart the gap had been reduced to eight points.
However, Bourke, O'Keeffe and Ward reeled off three successive points to increase that margin again by the 54th minute, when Stephens were awarded a penalty. Mick Pender, though, managed to save O'Connor's shot and it seemed to sum up the visitors' day when, in the 60th minute, a move involving Maurice Leahy, John Costello, Duffy and Cosgrove set up Bourke for his goal.
Kilmacud Crokes: M Pender; C O'Dwyer, C Deegan, C Cleary; J O'Callaghan, J McGee, R Leahy; J Costello (0-2), M Leahy; P Ward (0-2), G Duffy (0-1), C Redmond; R Cosgrove (0-1), P Bourke (1-3), M O'Keeffe (0-7, six frees).
James Stephens: F Cantwell; S Doyle, P Larkin, F Hickey; N Lehart, J Scott, M Fogarty; P Barry (0-1), L O'Connor (0-1, free); D Grogan, B McEvoy, K Grogan; B Leahy (0-1, free), T O'Dowd (0-1), R Manogue. Subs: B Dooley for Fogarty (half-time); C Connealy for K Grogan (35 mins); D Fitzpatrick (0-1) for Manogue (39 mins).
Referee - P Fox (Westmeath).
