AIB All-Ireland Club SFC final
Dingle (Kerry) 0-23 St Brigid’s (Roscommon) 1-19 (after extra-time)
‘Even for us… even for us…’
Dingle manager Padraig O Corcorain did not need to finish that sentence.
Even for them, who had won both their Munster Final and All-Ireland semi-final in highly dramatic circumstances, this was almost beyond belief.
A game they seemed to have won in normal time, then lost in extra time, then forced to a penalty shootout – then won… or had they?
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Even when substitute Mikey Geaney’s winning score went over, and the referee’s whistle sparked delirious Dingle celebrations, their players and management spilling onto the pitch, it wasn’t actually all over.
Monaghan official Martin McNally cleared everyone off the pitch and signalled a free-in, for defenders not moving out quickly enough at the kick-out.
Amidst the chaos, Dingle captain Paul Geaney kept the coolest of heads.
The advice of another Ulsterman, data analyst Colin Treanor, who has worked with Kerry, remained in his brain, as he explained.
Tullysaran-native Data analyst Colin Trainor, had a massive influence on the last actions of this All-Ireland final. Picture: Mal McCann.
Geaney was taking no chances, not risking that touching wood might somehow bring St Brigid’s some good luck, so he blattered the free well wide into Hill 16:
“Colin Trainor would be proud of me with that one. We’ve had discussions about that, and he reckons that players don’t take into account the probability of the cross-bars and stuff.
“We’ve the game won, so why would you try and pad your stats, ‘LeBron it’?”, he added with a smile.
Even without that reference to LeBron James, this final would have put basketball into your mind.
Paul Geaney wasn’t surprised in the slightest by that: “That’s the nature…. We’ve played so many quality teams, that’s the thing, you’re playing against the county champions…
Dingle captain Paul Geaney (pictured after this year’s Munster Club Senior final) knew that it would be a long slog against a quality side like St Brigid’s. PICTURE: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile (Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE/SPORTSFILE)
“They all have their own stories and their own journeys and they’re not just going to pack it in…
“It’s not as easy as you start well, which we did today, and you go on and you stay on top. All these teams are champions. It’s very difficult to win this thing…
“That was going to be the way of the game, ebbing and flowing. I felt that maybe when they missed that close enough free – I felt maybe we had the chance there. If that one went over, I think it was going to four [ahead for St Brigid’s].
Of course, there were misses by both sides.
The winning of this was a collective effort, although Geaney hailed defender Tom O’Sullivan, who kicked an amazing five points from play, including two to level matters deep into the second period of extra time:
“Most of the time, when you get up, you don’t execute, but we executed every single time we went up, which gave us a chance.
“Then Tom took the game by the scruff again and we saw the inside of his boot today,” he said with a smile, referencing his team-mate’s semi-final scoring heroics.”
Corner back Tom O’Sullivan (left) scored five points from play at Croke Park against St Brigid’s. PICTURE: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile (Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE)
O’Sullivan did so despite bereavement during the week: “Unreal again today. An outrageous leader for us and a great player.
“A tough week for the O’Sullivans and the Ryans there, their grandmother passed away. Our condolences to the family as well.
“I saw it actually, and it’s a true thing, that your county mates will be at your wedding, and it’s your club mates that bury you. It’s true.”
Sitting beside the skipper was Mark O’Connor, given special dispensation to play by his Aussie Rules club Geelong, and this victory for him “means everything.
Mark O’Connor was given special dispensation from his professional AFL club, the Geelong Cats, to fly back home to turn out for Dingle in this All-Ireland final.
“It was actually very strange to see a few Geelong faces in the crowd next to my family.
“It’s been 10 years since I’ve played here and obviously never played here in the red and white so there’s a lot of emotion coming in which wasn’t easy to keep a lid on.
“It means the world. As Paul said, the club is everything…it is the Dingle boys that will be under the coffin someday. It just means the world.
“We have such a small population but it’s a quality population. It was just great to see all those faces in the stand today. It means the world.”