KERRY SFC FINAL Dr Crokes 1-15 Austin Stacks 0-11:DR CROKES, thanks to the genius that is Colm Cooper, ended a losing run of three county finals in the six years, with a deserved victory over Tralee kingpins Austin Stacks, in this absorbing Kerry SFC final before a crowd of 10,219 at Austin Stack Park, Tralee.
There is an adage that defines genius as “a man who does superlatively and without obvious effort something that most people cannot do by the uttermost exertion of their abilities”, and there is little doubt “Gooch” Cooper is such a man.
After a frantic opening half where both Crokes and Stacks had flexed their muscles, there was more brawn on view than finesse, Crokes led 0-8 to 0-6 at the interval and the game was still in the balance.
Then after Crokes captain Brian Looney raced through to extend that lead to three within 16 seconds of the restart. Cooper struck with his first from play and it looked ominous for the Tralee side. But Stacks, with veteran William Kirby winning good ball at midfield, hit back, and successive points from Mikey Collins and two from Dara Long, closed the gap to a mere point (0-10 to 0-9) with only 37 minutes gone.
The Stacks supporters were in full voice as it looked as maybe Crokes were going to be pipped at the post just like they were, in 2005, 2006 and last year.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man and Cooper duly sunk the Stacks in a vital three -minute spell between the 38th and 40th minutes.
Firstly, when goalkeeper Kieran Cremin found Brian Looney all alone on the left wing, the skipper made ground before sending in a high ball that corner forward Chris Brady and a defender just missed. But Cooper reading the situation to perfection, collected the ball before curling over a delightful point.
Then came the hammer blow to Stacks a minute later when the excellent Dáithí Casey raced in from the left wing and drew the cover and found Cooper in splendid isolation. Gooch expertly planted the ball in the Stacks’ net and at 1-11 to 0-9, it was effectively game over.
Stacks never gave up but they were overreliant on the high ball in the direction of Kieran Donaghy. Crokes full back Michael Moloney never allowed “Star” a clean catch and Donaghy also had two penalty claims turned down late on to cap what was for him a frustrating afternoon.
The opening quarter belonged to Crokes as they raced 0-5 to 0-1 in front with Ambrose O’Donovan and Johnny Buckley lording matters in the middle.
Crokes had points from Casey and O’Donovan (two each) and one from teenager Chris Brady, after Shane Carroll had given Stacks a first-minute lead.
Stacks were double teaming Cooper in this period with centre forward T J Hogan dropping back to help John Dennis but it was counterproductive as Hogan is a ball winner around the middle.
Stacks reverted to playing six forwards and thundered back into the game with Donaghy getting them going with a fine effort in the 16th minute. A brace of points from Long and another from Collins closed the gap at half-time to just two points but Stacks had played with the wind.
However Crokes looked the better side in the second half and once Cooper hit 1-2 in that third quarter, they were on their way to seventh county crown. Cooper added the man-of-the-match award to his sixth All-Star he collected on Friday night.
DR CROKES: K Cremin, J Payne, M Moloney, D O'Leary, S Doolan, L Quinn, S Myers, A O'Donovan (0-4), J Buckley, A Kennelly, E Brosnan, B Looney (0-1), C Cooper (1-5, two frees), D Casey (0-4, three frees), C Brady (0-1). Subs: S O'Neill for C Brady (52), B McMahon for A Kennelly (56 mins), N O'Connell for S Myers (58)
AUSTIN STACKS: M Moriarty, P McCarthy, D Leonard, D Costello, P Barrett, D McElligott, J Dennis, W Kirby, B Shanahan, M Collins (0-3), T J Hogan (0-1), P McCannon, S Carroll (0-1), K Donaghy (0-1), D Long (0-5, four frees). Subs: W Guthrie for D Leonard (23), F Mangan for S Carroll (36), D Clifford for M Collins (45), F McNamara for P McCarthy (49), M Collins for D Long ( 55).
Referee: Padraig O'Sullivan(Firies).
