There are three certainties in life: death, taxes and Dr Crokes delivering emphatic wins in Mallow for Munster football finals.
Sunday proved no different as they swept aside Tipperary champions Loughmore Castleiney 0-15 to 1-6 and claimed their first Munster crown since 2018 when they beat Clare’s Miltown Malbay.
Tony Brosnan and Micheál Burns kicked 0-05 each to complete a brilliant 2024 for the Killarney kingpins, taking a clean sweep of Kerry league, club, county, and Munster titles. However, Loughmore added some respectability to the score line when Philip O'Connell riffled a rocket in added time.
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The last time the Kerry champions played the decider in the Cork venue, they beat Waterford side The Nire 3-15 to 0-6 in 2016. They went on to win the All-Ireland title that same year under current manager Pat O’Shea, so it is all good omens for their push for another big day in Croke Park.
Another incredible feat from today’s win is that Kieran O’Leary, Brian Looney, Mike Moloney, and John Payne have now been involved in seven of their nine Munster title wins.
8 December 2024; Maidhci Lynch of Dr Crokes in action against Eamon Connolly of Loughmore Castleiney during the AIB Munster GAA Senior Club Football Championship final match between Dr Crokes of Kerry and Loughmore Castleiney of Tipperary at Mallow GAA Grounds in Cork. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Return of All-Ireland winner hailed in Dr Crokes win
While by Dr Croke's standards, their six years without a Munster title has been somewhat of a drought, it was the return of All-Ireland winning forward Mícheal Burns who proved the difference in this year's Munster final, kicking five points, three of which came from play.
Speaking after the win, Croke's selector Denis Coleman told Paul Dollery of SunSport that Burns was the spark for their revival in 2024 as they have won every trophy possible so far: “When things with Kerry came to an end, Micheál was straight back to us with an attitude of, ‘I’m back with my crowd here now, and I’m going to give it 100 per cent’.
He played right through the league with us and was a real leader on and off the field. He brought so much to it, whereas some fellas might start moping because they’re no longer involved at that level.
“His attitude was completely different. He came back in and couldn’t get enough football. He was delighted to be with the group.
“He had been with Kerry for quite a number of years, so it wouldn’t have been normal for him to be with us at that time of the year.
“But we were more than happy to have him, and he’s been a huge asset to us all the way through.”
Burns who spent six years with the Kerry senior squad before being axed in early 2024, is a five-time intercounty Munster Champion and has won both a senior and minor All-Ireland Celtic cross, with his latest success coming when he appeared off the bench in the 2022 All-Ireland final.
Crokes now march onto an All-Ireland semi-final in the first week of January, where they'll face the winner of Sunday afternoon's Ulster final between Kilcoo and Errigal Ciaran.
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