East Kerry Championship Final

Killarney Legion v Dr Crokes

Sunday at 2pm

Fitzgerald Stadium

Fierce town rivals Killarney Legion and Dr Crokes meet on Sunday with the Dr O’Donoghue Cup and, perhaps more importantly, local bragging rights on the line.

Legion were the victors the last time these sides met in the East Kerry final when Stephen Stack led the club from Derreen to glory in 2019. Crokes have bounced back in style, however, exerting their dominance in 2020 and 2022 to clinch back-to-back titles via final wins over Spa. (The tournament was not played in 2021 due to the pandemic.)

Peter Keane is now at the helm for the Legion and how he would love to sign off on the 2023 season on a positive note. It doesn’t get more positive than beating your near neighbours in a final.

Crokes will be plenty motivated too, though. Brian McMahon’s charges have already secured one significant piece of silverware in the form of the County League Division 1 crown. Adding the O’Donoghue Cup to that would constitute a decent season as they continue to blood new players with the ultimate aim of challenging once again for the Kerry Club and County Championships.

FORM

The Lewis Road club are coming into this final in imperious form having most recently overcome the challenge of Spa in last weekend’s semi-final. They made light work of that particular task as goals by Tony Brosnan, Kieran O’Leary and Micheál Burns propelled them to massive 3-14 to 1-6 win.

After a low-scoring first half, they were much the better team in the second period as they extended their lead from three to fourteen with relative ease.

One slight concern for the defending champions is the fact that Gavin White was subbed off early in the second period. The Kerry star has just returned following a hamstring injury so Crokes fans will be hoping that his withdrawal last weekend was more of a precaution than anything else.

As for Legion, they have also impressed en route to the final with professional performances against Listry, Fossa and Kilcummin under their belts. A brutal winter wind made life difficult for both Legion and Kilcummin in the semi-final but the town club managed it slightly better, picking off their scores with the wind in the final quarter to emerge victorious on a scoreline of 0-8 to 0-6.

They were solid at the back on the day with Man of the Match Peter O’Sullivan catching the eye. With the likes of Danny Sheahan, Darragh Doherty and Jonathan Lyne also providing defensive cover, this appears to be an area of strength for Keane’s side.

They will certainly need to be at their best on Sunday if they are to repel the attacking threat of Brosnan, Burns and co.