THEY beat them in the Club Championship decider and Dr Crokes repeated the dose against Kenmare when the sides clashed in the Kerry Senior Football Championship at Fitzgerald Stadium this afternoon.
It wasn’t easy – nobody expected it to be – but the All-Ireland Club kingpins has too much firepower for Sean O’Shea and co and the Killarney club had a five-point surplus at the close.
There was precious little between the sides in the first half at the end of which Crokes led 0-7 to 0-6, with former Kerry minor Micheál Burns catching the eye with the two of his four points while Kieran O’Leary, Johnny Buckley, Gavin O’Shea, Daithi Casey and goalkeeper Shane Murphy, from a 45, also finding the range.
The impressive Sean O’Shea helped keep Kenmare in touch with a brace and Mark Crowley, Paul O’Connor and Kerry star Stephen O’Brien were also on target in that opening half.
Crokes turned the screw somewhat in the second half with Colm Cooper notching three points and they hit another eight before the final whistle to squeeze the life out of their plucky opponents.
A telling feature for Crokes was the performance of younger players and Paul Clarke and Tony Brosnan caught the eye – and found the target – as well as the aforementioned Burns.
The scoreboard read 0-17 to 0-12 at the close and Crokes remain on course to retain their championship and, perhaps, another big day put in Croke Park could be beckoning next March,
Dr Crokes scorers: Micheál Burns 0-4, Colm Cooper 0-3, Daithi Casey 0-2; Tony Brosnan 0-2, Kieran Brosnan 0-1, Shane Murphy 0-1, Johnny Buckley 0-1, Gavin O’Shea 0-1, Ambrose O’Donovan 0-1, Paul Clarke 0-1.
Kenmare scorers: Sean O’Shea 0-6, Mark Crowley 0-1, Paul O’Connor 0-1, Stephen O’Brien -1, Sean O’Leary 0-1, Brian O’Sullivan 0-1, Kevin O’Sullivan 0-1.
