Erratic Crokes aim to put best side out

All-Ireland Club SFC Dr Crokes' JamesThey were one of the first ever GAA clubs in the country, founded in Killarney in 1886, and the first to bear the name of one of the GAA's first patrons, Archbishop Dr Croke.

Just as his distinguished patronage was a source of great strength to the infant association, the Dr Crokes club have been a source of great Kerry footballers, starting with Dick Fitzgerald and his six club-mates who backboned the team that delivered the county's first All-Ireland in 1903.

Right now, however, the club could possibly be more associated with another doctor - as in Dr Henry Jekyll, along with the misanthropic Mr Edward Hyde. As Dr Crokes forward and team captain James Fleming admits, their recent form has been swinging between extremes.

"You've definitely seen the good and the bad over the past few weeks," he says, "and maybe the ugly as well. But I feel the real Dr Crokes are the ones that played the second half against Nemo Rangers (in the Munster club semi-final). We just have to do that for 60 minutes.

"But we haven't played for the 60 minutes yet, and if we do, we're in with a great shout on Sunday. We did play very well against Nemo in stages, and it probably was our best performance of the year. So we're just looking to be a lot more consistent on Sunday."

Sunday's challenge is the All-Ireland club semi-final against Kildare's Moorefield, who reach this stage of the competition for the first time in their history. Dr Crokes will start as favourites mainly on the basis of being All-Ireland champions in the past (1992) but also because of the presence of a certain Colm "Gooch" Cooper.

However, Dr Crokes won't want a repeat of their Mr Hyde side, as seen in the Munster final against Waterford champions The Nire. Having gone 2-4 to 0-3 in front, they failed to score for nearly 45 minutes before a late free from Cooper sealed the win.

"We were very lucky against the Nire," adds Fleming. "I know if they had our forwards they would have won the game, because they missed a lot. And we went very defensive. I'd say we attacked twice in the whole second half. Conditions were tough, but hopefully that won't happen again.

"And it's always a relief to have a player like the Gooch. For a player still so young, he really is a leader for us: himself and Eoin Brosnan. Having Gooch in there, you just know he's going to want the ball if you're in trouble in any way. His vision is unreal, and he can see people no one else can. The best footballer in the country.

"But we've 32 on the squad, with six on the under-21 panel, and four on the seniors. We have a lot of talent there, but the rest of us can play a bit as well. And we'd be confident enough.

"Sure we're from Kerry, aren't we? That breeds confidence all the time. But we're a very close group of players, we all do things together, and socialise together.

They also have a highly capable manager in Pat O'Shea, a member of the 1992 All-Ireland winning team who now holds the reins with the county team: "He's a serious manager. Probably one of the best I've ever had. He needs some time to settle with Kerry, because he's been with us three years now. I know some people are saying he'll bring our hand-passing game into Kerry, but that is something Dr Crokes have had for the past 15 years. Kerry are different.

"And he's still an unbelievable club man. He is the Crokes, the way we see it. It's a family tradition with him. He's out every night of the week, between Kerry and us, and I don't know how he's doing it. He's never missed one session with us, and we've been going two nights a week, and a session at weekends as well. He's some man to do it."