County Championship

Comparing the County Hurling and Football Finals

October 25th, 2011
by Weeshie Fogarty

 Before we turn to next Sunday's very attractive football county final I must refer to last Sundays week's Kerry hurling county final between Ballyduff and Crotta. In recent years mainly due to commitments to my radio programme Terrace Talk I have attended the hurling final as often as possible. And let me say straight away and I must be totally honest when I say the whole day is a much better occasion in my personal opinion than its football equivalent. Now I say this not with any disrespect to any teams who have been involved down through the years in the football (as I have been myself on 14 occasions both  as a player and referee) but as an observation coming from a person who has been reared in a strictly football environment.  Although my home town of Killarney did win their one and only very historic senior hurling county championship in 1969 and I have very vivid memories of that having trained with that side, not as a member of the panel but just to make up the numbers for the mandatory training games each evening.  

The whole occasion which surrounds the hurling county final day is very unique and special. Now this may not be as evident to the great hurling fraternity in this county because as they say "familiarity breeds contempt" and they are well used to being present at what is a wonderful sporting Kerry occasion.  The colors displayed by the supporters of both clubs involved, the atmosphere, the sense of anticipation, the raw pride and passion is very evident once you come within the environs of Austin Stack Park. The minor game as a curtain raiser is a great opportunity for the young stars of Kerry hurling to savor the occasion. When did you last see the minor football county final played before the senior final? 

The parade before the throw in was a wonderful sight this year and I have never seen so many mascots accompanying the fathers, brothers, friends or relations as the sides marched behind the band.  This is the blooding, the handing down of a great tradition, the healthy indoctrination of young minds towards their clubs and colors.  Now I was sitting in the stand surrounded by supporters of both clubs and the encouragement, noise, shouting and at times groans of despair when a ball went astray or a score was missed added greatly to the occasion. It was a cracking game between to wonderful manly brave totally committed, hightly sporting band of North Kerry hurlers. Mothers with babies in their arms sound asleep blissfully oblivious to what was going on around them. It was great stuff and this county final day should be packaged and sold to the visitors who come to our county seeking out the culture and traditions for which Kerry is renowned world wide. A memorable occasion.

I believe that the two best sides in the county have qualified for next Sunday's football county final and given favorable weather conditions and so many outstanding players on view we should see a hightly competitive game.  It was unusual to see three divisional teams contest the semi finals with just one club side. This is probably a true reflection on the standard of club football in the county and with the exception of Crokes I don't believe any Kerry club at the moment would be capable of winning the All Ireland club championship. Divisional teams of course are barred from entering here and this ban followed East Kerrys win over Bryansfort of Co Down in 1970.

Crokes as defending champions will begin as favourites and rightly so. They are attempting to win back to back titles for the first time since 1913-14, a huge incentive in itself. Their path to the final while not as flamboyant and utterly convincing as some performance in previous years has nevertheless copper fastened the fact that they are the best championships club side we have seen in recent years.  Laune Rangers before them back in 1993-94-96 were the last dominant club side.  South Kerry and before them East Kerry have also won seven titles between them. Over the last two week ends Crokes have displayed their tremendous ability to dig out a victory in the closing stages when their backs were really to the wall.

The wins over Austin Stacks and West Kerry proved, if proof was needed that in these nail biting gripping finishes they are the masters of survival. This more than any other factor is what makes them the present championship specialists. And of course all of this is a result of their many campaigns in Kerry, Munster and Croke Park. You know exactly what you will get next Sunday from the Crokes. Kieran o Leary has been in superb form in their march to the final; in fact he is the man whose scores when needed most were instrumental in clinching another final spot. Colm Cooper as always will play a massive part, it looks like Ambrose o Donovan will be fit to start and he with Johnny Buckley, Brian Looney, Eoin Brosnan and Dahi Casey should see the favourites clinch the title.

The big question for me is, just how good can Mid Kerry perform? They certainly have the quality players capable of winning the championship. They were disjointed and scrappy in their recent wins over Rathmore and east Kerry. This is always to be expected where divisional sides are involved as it is very rare indeed for the manager to have full squads for training and practice games. They made hard work of beating a very average east kerry side in the semi final a game in which we saw once again the greatness and genius of Séamus Moynihan.

Tim Coffey the Mid Kerry manager is a shrewd operator and a long time on the road. His side is backboned by Milltown/Castlemain players who have been defeated just once in all outings this year.  The panel is hightly experienced and when they play the long ball into the two inside men Gavin o Grady, and in particular Colm Kerins and have support play from the runners coming in they can be hightly effective.  Darren o Sulivan should in my opinion have ben voted player of the year, however it was always going to go the Dublin man as they appear to be the darlings of the media. With Darren, Garry Sayers, Fergal Griffin, Sean o Sullivan, Mike Burk and of course Donnacha Walsh Mid Kerry definitely have the men well capable of defeating the holders. 

However the question is how much will or can they improve from their recent wins?  To beat the Crokes they will have to play much better overall. The games will have brought them on a ton. The Kerry captaincy is once again at stake, Darren o Sullivan has forfeited his trip to Australia with Ireland and his display over sixty minutes of the game could well decide if the Bishop Moynihan Cup changes hands.  Crokes the form team, the club team, the holders, with home advantage, with Colm Cooper and Kieran o Leary in attack, attempting to win two in a row have everything in their favour. 


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