All-Ireland Senior Club Football semi-final: Dingle (Kerry) 1-26 Ballyboden St Enda’s (Dublin) 1-24 AET
Paul Geaney says he’ll be ready to play a full part in Sunday week’s All-Ireland Senior Club Football final after surviving 50 minutes on an injured calf in Dingle’s barnstorming extra-time victory over Ballyboden St Enda’s.
The Dingle captain has been hampered throughout the club campaign and wasn’t deemed fit enough to start at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday. But from his half-time induction, Geaney was the focal point as the Kerrymen flipped a 10-point deficit.
The 35-year-old’s 0-8 haul included the left-footed two-pointer to force extra-time and the right-footed two-point free to give Dingle their first lead in the 77th minute.
Manager Pádraig Corcoran said they were given “no choice” but to leave Geaney on the bench, while the man himself wasn’t sure how long he would last.
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“I was in the dark with it really, but now I know I would have got an hour,” said Geaney. “It’s good enough. Obviously not perfect. I have another two weeks now, which is perfect.
“The worry is that you have to go off. The game is in the melting pot late on and if you play the first 40 or 50 and you re-injure, you’re not good enough. You’re fatigued and you’re gone off and the game is to be won.”
At a team meeting in 2018, Dingle privately laid out their ambition to reach an All-Ireland final. It took them seven years from that point to even make their county breakthrough, but their belief has proved unshakeable to come back from seven points down against St Finbarr’s in the Munster final and from 10 down against Ballyboden.
“There were maybe a few fellas on the panel at the time that were laughing about it,” said Geaney. “They’re not with us now, but it was that far away and it was that far of a journey.
“It just shows in a small club like us, or any of the smaller clubs that go to Croke Park – it’s not something that you can just decide you’re going to do and go do it the next year or the year after. It’s a long journey, so it’s very rewarding that we finally got there.
“The job isn’t obviously done. We want to win the All-Ireland, but the first goal was to get to Croke Park. Now we have to win it.”
On top of Geaney’s injury worries, Dingle also faced the prospect of being without Mark O’Connor until he sent word from Australia that his AFL club Geelong had given him the greenlight to return. He capped his trip home with the insurance score for a two-point winning margin.
He’ll have to seek an extension now as Dingle become the first Kerry club to feature in the final since Dr Crokes in 2019.
“Mark’s the only man that probably knows, but hopefully he’ll be around,” said Geaney. “With Mark, it’s just every time he lines out, it’s a bonus.”
Geaney felt Ballyboden “ran us ragged” in the first half and “should have been absolutely home and hosed at half-time”. The Dublin champions led by 1-15 to 0-8 early in the second period, but with Geaney’s introduction and an incredible six-point contribution from Kerry defender Tom O’Sullivan, Dingle were hauled back from the brink.
“Our football took over and it was almost playing on instinct,” said Geaney. “Tactics nearly went out the window. That suited us.”
Even then, Ballyboden had a free to win it from the 14-yard line, halfway between the posts and the sideline, but Colm Basquel sliced his effort to leave it 1-20 apiece at full-time.
Ballyboden had looked inevitable early on, their wing back Patrick Warren the top-scoring Kerryman in the first half with three points, while Ryan O’Dwyer finished with 0-7 from play.
James Holland, O’Dwyer, and Ryan Basquel failed to convert first-half goal chances, though. Dingle were also, controversially, denied a stoppage-time goal when Conor Flannery was deemed to have hopped the ball twice, although his first bounce was made in the act of controlling the ball.
Colm Basquel’s 36th-minute goal seemed a killer blow, but some long balls to Paul and Conor Geaney produced a flurry of chances. Conor Geaney had one effort saved and one off the post before teeing up Tadhg Browne to blast home.
Neither O’Sullivan nor Paul Geaney missed a shot all afternoon and they stepped up to land the two-pointers to force extra-time.
“I actually had a chance just before that and I put Mark through. Mark went for goal and I thought that was it. If we got that point, we were level,” said Geaney.
“I said if I get another chance here, I’m taking the shot, because I’ll kill myself later if I don’t take this shot and we don’t even get a shot here. I’m the man to take the shot.”
Daire Sweeney kicked the first three points of the extra period, but Dingle took over as Paul Geaney’s two-point free put them into the decisive lead for the finish.
DINGLE: G Curran; P O’Connor, C Flannery, Brian O’Connor; A O’Connor, Tom Leo O’Sullivan, Tom O’Sullivan (0-1-4); M O’Connor (0-0-1), Billy O’Connor; T Browne (1-0-1), M Flaherty (0-0-2), N Geaney (0-0-1); C Bambury, C Geaney (0-0-2), D Geaney (0-0-4, 1f).
Subs: P Geaney (0-2-4, 1tpf, 2f) for Bambury (ht), M Geaney (0-0-1) for Flaherty (52 mins), S Óg Moran for A O’Connor (52), N Ryan for Billy O’Connor (54), Flaherty for C Geaney (73), Bambury for Browne (76).
BALLYBODEN: H O’Sullivan; B Bobbett (0-0-1), S Clayton, H Donaghy; P Dunleavy, C Flaherty, P Warren (0-0-3); C D’Arcy, A Gavin; J Holland, R O’Dwyer (0-1-5), R Basquel (0-0-2); R McGarry (0-0-4), C Basquel (1-0-2), D Sweeney (0-1-3, 1tpf, 2f).
Subs: K Kennedy for Warren (35 mins), C O’Dwyer for Sweeney (51), J McGuire for R Basquel (56), J Madden for Holland (58), R Baynes for Donaghy (60+2), Sweeney for C O’Dwyer (et), Holland for Clayton (ht et), L O’Donoghue for Gavin (73), C O’Dwyer for R O’Dwyer (77).
Referee: F Kelly (Longford).
