Dr Crokes 1-14 South Kerry 1-8
LIKE Kerry in the drawn All-Ireland final, they had their chance to down the Dubs but when it came to the replay, the odds were heavily stacked against them.
South Kerry, similarly, had their opportunity to oust reigning champions Dr Crokes in Fitzgerald Stadium last week but, when they failed to take it, they were always going to be up against it facing the slick Killarney side in today’s replay.
And right from the off, Edmund O’Sullivan’s side set about proving a point and, right from the early stages, they looked as if they were operating in a higher gear than the pretenders to the throne.
Crokes made no mistake at the second time of asking and with South Kerry’s talisman Bryan Sheehan apparently hampered by injury, and uncharacteristically not in the best of form with his free taking, there was always only going to be one result. The former Kerry star, in fact, had the leave the field, in obvious distress and scoreless, after 48 minutes.
Crokes were four points ahead at half-time, 1-6 to 0-5, with the excellent Michael Potts bulging the South Kerry net and the lethal Tony Brosnan pointing for fun, finishing with a personal haul of six and sending another direct message to the watching Peter Keane.
With Johnny Buckley – fully recovered from a dead leg in the drawn game – and Alan O’Sullivan lording it at midfield, Crokes always held the upper hand with only Daniel Daly and the hugely impressive Niall O’Shea looking on song for South Kerry.
It was O’Shea who notched the South Kerry goal in the second half when he pounced on a mistake by Crokes goalkeeper Shane Murphy to give his side some hope.
But Crokes pushed on to turn the screw – as only they can – and points from Micheál Burns (two), Daithi Casey (two), captain Brian Looney and Tony Brosnan saw them book their place in what will be classed as a glamorous local derby Kerry SFC final in Tralee next Sunday afternoon.
It promises to be a corker of a decider with some of the marquee b=names of the game going toe to toe with Kerry panelists David Clifford, Jack Sherwood, Liam Kearney lining out with East Kerry and Gavin White and Micheál Burns with the black and amber.
Dr Crokes scorers: T Brosnan 0-6 (0-2 frees), M Potts 1-1, D Casey 0-4 (0-1 free), M Burns 0-2, B Looney 0-1.
South Kerry scorers: N O’Shea 1-3 Daniel Daly 0-3, B O’Sullivan 0-1, C Keating 0-1.
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