GAELIC GAMES:THE LAST beacon of light on what may yet be another whiteout of the GAA club fixtures this weekend is the most captivating of them all.

Should Kerry champions Dr Crokes and Nemo Rangers from Cork manage to draw swords for 60 minutes on Sunday in the Munster club football final, whether it be in Limerick or Mallow, then some followers of the Tralee men will see it as unfinished business.

You see, Dr Crokes last won the Kerry football championship, until this year that is, in 2000. Granted, they met and beat Nemo in 2006 only to eventually lose the All-Ireland to Crossmaglen Rangers, who are also still floating about this season, but they only made it into Munster after losing the county final to the combined selection from South Kerry.

Only club teams are allowed represent Kerry beyond its borders.

Ironically, 10 years ago, when Harry O’Neill had his first stint as Dr Crokes manager, they were denied the right to carry the green and gold standard into Munster despite winning the county crown due to a quirk in the system. To celebrate the dawning of a new century the Kerry County Board put on the Millennium Cup. Séamus Moynihan’s Glenflesk, normally part of the East Kerry faction, won out only to be beaten by Cork’s most successful club side (14 provincial titles to Dr Crokes’ three).

“Nemo beat them by four points,” O’Neill instantly remembers. “Yeah, it still rankles. Glenflesk won the Millennium Cup and played Nemo that year in the Munster final. We did meet them again in 2006 but I was not around at the time and, anyway, their team has changed a fair bit since then.”

As tends to happen in GAA circles, Nemo visited Dr Crokes for a challenge match in “late March, early April” to keep both sides ticking over. Of course, it holds no relevance now but, for the record, Nemo prevailed. “They have their Cork players in Paul Kerrigan and Derek Kavanagh. The likes of David Niblock, James Masters and Seán O’Brien are still there also but the number of household names are not as evident as other Nemo teams and yet they have more of a balance to them and are a clearly a close knit side.”

Neither group could have known last spring they would meet again eight months later in the biggest game either club will play in 2010. Nor could anyone have realised Dr Crokes would have Colm Cooper solidified in the line-up from August 1st. Not only the Gooch, still awarded an All Star for some outstanding early summer displays, but their other county panellists returned to the club for solace after what must ultimately be considered a failed campaign by Kerry.

The benefit, it seems, is two-fold. Dr Crokes are profiting from arguably their greatest ever footballer being with them for most of the campaign and at the peak of his significant powers. “As playing with Kerry ended so early this season he was back with us mid-summer so it was a new experience for Colm too,” said O’Neill, who is also part of Jack O’Connor’s Kerry backroom team.

“It has probably been seven or eight years since this last occurred. In those years he has come back in and been a bit-part player when it comes to the team; still very important to us, but only really joining us at the end of the season. This year he has been in the thick of it. He is back being just one of the lads, back playing with his buddies that he grew up with.

“We can use his experience to help the younger players like he couldn’t do before. I hope he sees himself as a leader of this team. He seems to be in a good place. We are certainly tapping off him all the time.”

If you are successful in Kerry football, be it for club or county, the football will never slow. They will throw you into the mix until you crumble.

Last weekend was the first lull in proceedings for Dr Crokes since September. They have been battling on four fronts. The East Kerry championship, known as the O’Donoghue Cup, the actual county club championship has been banked while they will soon have a league final to contest.

“Realistically, we are playing too many games as we are competing in four different competitions and being pulled and dragged all over the place but this is the price you pay for being successful. We knew the matches were going to be coming hot and heavy.”

There is no hint of complaint. Fionn Fitzgerald, Ambrose O’Donovan and Kieran O’Leary are available after injury, while there are plenty of good vibes about soccer player Chris Brady doubling up and making a decent impact. That O’Donovan has recovered sufficiently from vertebrae and tissue damage after a car crash on October 29th to feature off the bench for the club just 23 days later in the extra-time defeat of Aherlow in the Munster semi-final barely raises an eyebrow from his manager.

“Most people presumed Ambrose was done for the year after the car crash but if anyone was going to make it back in that space of time it was Ambrose O’Donovan. He is just something special.”

So, it seems, are the club he represents. So too are Nemo. All we need now is a decent pitch.

O’Neill said the sun was shining in Tralee yesterday. Maybe that will follow them to Limerick, or Mallow, come Sunday.