Dr Crokes 4-16
Austin Stacks 0-12
DR CROKES CRUISED to a fourth successive Kerry senior football title with a dominant display over Austin Stacks in this afternoon’s decider at Fitzgerald Stadium.
It was all too easy for the champions who demonstrated their status as the leading club side in the Kingdom in style.
Colm Cooper and Kieran O’Leary fired 1-4 apiece as Dr Crokes crushed Austin Stacks, who last won the title in 1994, by 18 points.
Now Dr Crokes will turn their attentions to the provincial and national stage. They have won the last two Munster club titles but fell short at the All-Ireland semi-final stage for the last two years.
First up in Munster will be Cork champions Castlehaven on November 3rd, in what will be a repeat of last year’s provincial decider.
Dr Crokes secured their passage to that stage after a game which they controlled from an early stage. They raced into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead by the 7th minute before Austin Stacks briefly ralled to cut the gap to two points.
However Dr Crokes then took over to hit five point without reply before Colm Cooper smashed home the first goal of the game in the 25th minute. Shane O’Carroll grabbed a brace of points for Austin Stacks but they still faced a mountain to climb when trailing by eight points at the interval.
A dejected Barry Shanahan after the game.
Pic: INPHO/Donall Farmer
The second-half saw Dr Crokes in complete control again as they ran away to a comfortable win. Chris Brady notched their second goal in the 31st minute after a terrific run by Daithi Casey to set it up.
Then Kieran O’Leary bagged the third goal of the game in the 38th minute before Casey raised their fourth green flag six minutes later.
Scorers for Dr Crokes: Kieran O’Leary, Colm Cooper (0-3f) 1-4 each, Daithi Casey 1-2, Chris Brady 1-1, Johnny Buckley 0-2, Jamie Doolan, Kieran Ward, Brian Looney 0-1 each.Scorers for Austin Stacks: Shane Carroll 0-4 (0-1f), Barry Shanahan, Shane O’Carroll 0-2 each, Paul O’Donoghue, Fearghal McNamara, David Mannix, Greg Horan 0-1 each.
Dr Crokes celebrate their success
Pic: INPHO/Donall Farmer
DR CROKES: David Moloney; Kieran Ward, Luke Quinn, John Payne; Eoin Brosnan, Fionn Fitzgerald, Shane Myers; Ambrose O’Donovan, Johnny Buckley; Alan O’Sullivan, Daithi Casey, Brian Looney; Kieran O’Leary, Colm Cooper, Chris Brady.
Subs: Jamie Doolan for Brady, Michael Moloney for Quinn, Gavin O’Shea for O’Sullivan, David O’Leary for Myers, Shane Doolan for Payne.
AUSTIN STACKS: Darragh O’Brien; Fearghal McNamara, Daniel Bohane, John Dennis; Pa McCarthy, Denis McElligott, Ronan Shanahan; Barry Shanahan, Shane Carroll; Greg Horan, Paul O’Donoghue, Michael Collins; Darragh Long, Kieran Donaghy, Shane O’Callaghan.
Subs: David Mannix for Long, Kieran O’Connell for McElligott, William Kirby for O’Callaghan.
Referee: Seamus Mulvihilll (St Senan’s)