Rathmore clinch sweetest of Kerry titles to deny rivals Dr Crokes three on spin

Kerry Senior Club Football Championship final

Rathmore 2-10

Dr Crokes 0-12

RATHMORE ARE KERRY Senior Club champions for the first time since 2011, a victory made all the sweeter for beating rivals Dr Crokes and denying the Killarney club a three-in-a-row of titles.

Dr Crokes will reflect on numerous missed opportunities and the first-half dismissal of Micheal Burns for shoving a physio to the ground as obvious reasons for relinquishing their title.

But there was no denying Rathmore a first title in 15 years with a goal in either half just about underscoring their superiority.

Their first goal was the game’s first score, Fionn Murphy slipping his short low past Shane Murphy in the 11th minute. Ciaran Collins added a point a minute later.

Dr Crokes responded with a Tony Brosnan point and a two-pointer from Micheal Burns, but things went from orange to red for Burns a couple of minutes later.

An off-the-ball scuffle between Mark O’Shea and Collins saw Cathal Ryan intervene at the expense of a black card, but it was Burns’s shove on the Rathmore physio attending to Collins that saw the Dr Crokes man dismissed.

The medic was also shown a yellow card and when order was restored Brosnan kicked a pair of points for the champions.

Darragh Nagle and Collins replied in kind for Dr Crokes, who trailed 0-6 to 1-4 at half time.

Brendan O’Keeffe’s two-pointer early in the second half extended Rathmore’s lead, but Dr Crokes proved tough to shake off.

Their accuracy improved somewhat in the second period, though Brosnan fluffed a gilt-edged chance from the penalty spot as he lifted his shot over the crossbar after Evan Looney had been taken down in the square.

By the three-quarter mark Rathmore were three to the good, 1-9 to 0-9. When John Moynihan found the net with his first touch after coming on there was daylight between the teams at 2-9 to 0-9.

Brosnan was one of the few Dr Crokes players to really carry the fight, but another couple of points from him couldn’t close the gap enough.

Rathmore goalkeeper William Casey had to be alert on several occasions to deny the champions a green flag, and see the bragging rights go to Rathmore.

Scorers for Rathmore: J Moynihan, F Murphy 1-1 each, B O’Keeffe 0-3 (tp, f), C Collins 0-2, D Nagle, A Dineen, B Friel 0-1 each.

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Dr Crokes: T Brosnan 0-8 (2f, ‘45’), M Burns 0-2 (tp), C McMahon 0-1.

RATHMORE:

William Casey

Cian O’Connor
Fionn Holohan
Dan Murphy

Darragh Nagle
Paul Murphy
Alan Dineen

Andrew Moynihan
Mark Ryan

Fionn Murphy
Cathal Ryan
Padraig Moynihan

Brendan O’Keeffe
James Darmody
Ciaran Collins

Subs: Brian Friel for P Moynihan (ht), John Moynihan for J Darmody (41), Cian Dineen for A Dineen (44), Darragh Rahilly for D Murphy (52), Conor Moynihan for D Nagle (57),

DR CROKES:

Shane Murphy

Fonn Fitzgerald
Neil O’Shea
Mark Fitzgerald

Evan Looney
Gavin White
Brian Looney

Charlie Keating
Mark O’Shea

Micheal Burns
Gavin O’Shea
Tom Doyle

Cian McMahon
David Shaw
Tony Brosnan

Subs: Alex Hennigan for T Doyle (47), Cillian Fitzgerald for N O’Shea (49), Billy Courtney for C Keating (49), Michael Potts for G O’Shea (52), Maidhcí Lynch for M Fitzgerald (52)

Referee: Paul Hayes.