Kerry Club SFC final: Dr Crokes 1-15 Dingle 0-11.
MICHÉAL Burns didn’t eventually get out of Kerry until a May 31 flight to Chicago, but his head was hurting well before that. There are few reliable points of reference for the impact walking away from ‘the greatest football county in Ireland’ can have, but by the time the 27 year old headed for a Stateside summer, he was, in his own words, ‘in a bad place.
He's standing before you now, his voice quivering as relief gushes over every thought, every word. He had just delivered a man of the match performance as Dr Crokes annexed their 11th Kerry Club SFC but the toil of a long, stressful spring doesn’t take long to bubble to the surface.
On the night of January 27th, he was taken off at the break by Kerry in their League opener against Mickey Harte’s Derry, his tentative performance indicative of a man broken by bit parts in green and gold. He left the Kerry panel a fortnight later and retreated into the bosom of friends and family. Few know the torment involved in these things, but now comes an autumn resurgence.
“It’s just freshness, isn’t it? Mentally and physically. Mentally, the drains of inter-county can be tough at times but just coming down the stretch there today, I really felt I had it in my legs. Some people might think I’m a bit older but I’m 27 years of age so I should be around my peak now.
“The experience of Chicago this summer was unbelievable, I can’t thank the Wolfe Tones club enough. I was on a bit of a downer after leaving the inter-county scene and a bit down on myself, to be honest. I had been involved for eight or nine years and all of a sudden that was pulled from underneath me. I was in a bad place, to be honest. No real direction.”
At this point, the emotion of it all is manifestly evident.
“But I went over there and had the summer of a lifetime, and I really want to thank a few people there who might not know how important they were to me, getting me back. The Conroy brothers, John and Joe, the Rafterys (Enda, Dermot and Padraig), Paddy O’Brien the Wolfe Tones chairman. Tommy and Joanie McNamara took me in and treated me as one of their own.
“They were all so appreciate of you making an effort. Sometimes here at home it can feel like everyone is down on top of you. You make a mistake and it’s not good but over there, everyone just encourages you. They can really see you are giving it your all, and it was the making of me. I came back home a new person. I just had the summer of my lifetime.”
Burns’ display in the five-point win over Dingle sells the restorative powers of a summer Stateside all by itself. With Tony Brosnan the point of the Crokes spear, Burns was the engine in the middle third, hitting all points of the compass and chipping in with four points to boot. As Dingle’s challenge wilted, he was revving it up. He only arrived back a fortnight ago, but looks to have reintegrated into Pat O’Shea’s set-up seamlessly.
Being back to work teaching in history and geography in Caherciveen’s Colaiste na Sceilge, has its upsides too. “I am there with the great Maurice Fitzgerald as principal, he was brilliant for me, offering little nuggets of help. Even when I left Kerry he was brilliant, texting me on mid-term ‘this might be the best thing that ever happened to you’.”
Crokes’ success might be their first title since 2018 but it inevitably stirs the debate with O’Shea back at the wheel: are one of the true powerhouses of Kerry football back on their perch heading into the county championship in a fortnight?
When the sides met at the same venue in the group phase, Dingle’s Paul Geaney posted 2-7 and Kerry’s Tom O’Sullivan tagged his inter-county colleague Brosnan to telling effect. Act II and a different scenario unfolded once it was confirmed that Dingle defender O’Sullivan would miss out with a hamstring injury.
“We’ve had some good battles with Dingle,” Burns added, “but we’ve never really had a full team. This time Dingle were missing Tom O’Sullivan who, pound for pound, is the best back in the land by a country mile. He will always pick up the opposition danger man and chip in with three points himself. He’s a massive difference.”
By the break, Brosnan had scored five points, four of them from play, even though he was covered by two Dingle defenders. He would finish with 0-9. Crokes 1-7 to 0-5 half time lead could and should have been greater. Cian McMahon ghosted in behind the Dingle cover in the 6th minute to goal at the second attempt, but 19 minutes in, they had a more presentable opening when Burns found Gavin O’Shea with an angled ball and after sidestepping the keeper, the umpire was reaching for the green flag when Niall Geaney performed a daring rescue act to prevent the second goal.
It was 1-7 to 0-5 at the half but Burns was only warming up. He foraged across the field in the third quarter as Crokes denied Dingle the momentum they needed from a comeback surge. The five-point interval gap was only breached momentarily, despite a second half kicking exhibition off both sides from Dingle’s Dylan Geaney. Two of his scores made it a four-point game, 1-10 to 0-9, on 49 minutes but that was as close as Dingle got. Mark O’Shea, Brian Looney and Burns all won frees that official man of the match Brosnan converted from frees. As Dingle frustration grew, corner back Conor Flannery was red carded for an off the ball foul on..yes, a surging Micheal Burns. That was in the 61st minute.
“Being a teacher I had the liberty (in Chicago) of not having to seek work, so I probably trained twice a day most days, swimming, enjoying the sun, playing a bit of golf. I just feel it regenerated me as a person.”
Crokes begin their county championship quest with a trip to Kenmare in a fortnight, but at full tile, they are still a sight for sore eyes. “Pat O’Shea is the crazy genius, as I call him,” smiles Burns. “Anyone who asks what is it about him, you can’t explain to them unless you are involved with a team he is coaching. So many people ask me that. Where to create space, where to take on the man, when to kick it, when not to kick it. Every single detail. He is the Pep Guardiola of the GAA.”
Scorers for Dr Crokes: T Brosnan (0-9, 5 frees), M Burns (0-4, 1 free), C McMahon (1-1), E Looney (0-1).
Scorers for Dingle: D Geaney (0-5), P Geaney (0-3, 1 free), C Geaney (0-2), M Geaney (0-1).
DR CROKES: S Murphy; N O’Shea, F Fitzgerald, E Looney; C Keating, G White, B Looney; M O’Shea, M Potts; M Burns, G O’Shea, T Doyle; T Brosnan, D Shaw, C McMahon.
Subs: J Payne for N O’Shea (inj, 35); K O’Leary for Doyle (54), D Naughten for McMahon (62), M Cooper for Potts (64).
DINGLE: G Curran; C Flannery, C O’Sullivan, S Og Moran; N Geaney, T Leo O’Sullivan, D O’Sullivan; B O’Sullivan, B O’Connor; Brian O’Connor, P Geaney, M Geaney; D Geaney, C Geaney, C Bambury.
Subs for Dingle: M O’Flaherty for Brian O’Connor (49), M Flannery for Moran (51), T de Brun for D O’Sullivan (57), B Kelleher for C Geaney (62).
Referee: S Mulvihill (St Senan’s)
