Given the capacity they have displayed for stirring revivals in their Kerry and Munster winning campaign, it is easy to understand why all hope hadn’t escaped the Dingle dressing-room at half-time yesterday. But for the neutral observers, this one looked wrapped up at that juncture in favour of the Dublin champions.
A nine-point deficit looked sizeable, the ten-point gap when Colm Basquel netted in the 36th minute to seemingly puncture Dingle’s optimism, felt more significant. Ballyboden were ahead by five points in the 53rd minute, by four points in the 56th minute, and by two points in injury-time. Even in extra-time, they made the decisive initial burst to go ahead by three.
That all fed into the pattern of a game which pointed towards Ballyboden advancement and you could have been forgiven for harbouring such thoughts. Yet the striking improvements in Dingle’s play gradually wore down their opponents and sparked another remarkable comeback. We’re three days into the 2026 season but the bar for spectacular turnarounds has been set high.
“Huge credit to our players because they just kept going at it,” stated Dingle boss Padraig Corcoran.
“They dug deep with huge resolve and huge mental strength. Coming out in the second half, we just had to throw everything at it. Fellas really stood up to be counted but there was nobody panicking.”
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2. Dingle inspired by marquee men
The core of the Dingle side have experience of days in Kerry jerseys, while midfielder Mark O’Connor has excelled in the most demanding of AFL arenas. Yet when it came to energising their second-half comeback, it was their two most established Kerry senior players who supplied the power source.
Tom O’Sullivan had been a peripheral figure in the opening half, he moved to centre stage after the break. Pushed into a more offensive positing, he pinned Ballyboden back with his ball-playing gifts, carrying and creating and finishing. He registered six points from five shots, four of those his trademark slicer with the outside of his left, and the two-pointer to leave Dingle 1-19 to 1-17 adrift in the 57th minute was a majestic shot.
As a score it was surpassed though by one registered by a team-mate six minutes later. Paul Geaney lofted over a left-foot shot from a stationary position for the two-pointer that ulimately pushed this encounter to extra-time. After an opening half spent rooted to the bench due to injury, he shook off that ailment to bend the game to his will after his interval introduction.
Geaney scored 0-5 in the second half of normal time and 0-3 in the second half of extra time. Those tallies helped grant him man-of-the-match status, but it was his presence in attack that most shifted the momentum of the game and enabled Dingle to adopt a more direct approach that paid off.
“(Tom) absolutely drove it on and spoke so well in the dressing room as well,” revealed Corcoran.
“He’s a great leader in our group and he showed it there in the second half. He was inspirational really.
“Paul is just one of those guys who will do everything in his power to get himself right. He did the stuff when he came on. It was so important for us that he was able to stay on the field.”
3. Regret for Ballyboden
Ballyboden St-Enda’s first sampled an All-Ireland senior football semi-final in 2016, a positive extra-time experience against Munster opponents. They mounted an improbable comeback that day to drag Clonmel Commercials level and then seized their chance to win in the additional period. Another extra-time experience at the same competition stage yesterday was not as favourable. And while the club have suffered a semi-final loss previously, edged out by Kilcoo in January 2020, the pain of this one at the hands of Dingle will cut deeper.
It’s hard to envisage a superior first-half display. Ballyboden hit their stride early, surging four points clear inside five minutes, and by the interval they were nine clear, a position that was reflective of the control they had exerted. They had players shaping the game like goalkeeper Hugh O’Sullivan off the tee and midfielder Cein Darcy in the air. Ryan O’Dwyer, Ross McGarry, and Patrick Warren were all terrific as they kept the scoreboard ticking over.
There were other positions in the second half from where they looked set to kick on for the finish, but they couldn’t protect that position of scoreboard supremacy. To squander a winning position from there will be hard to wrap their heads around.
Dingle's Matthew Flaherty celebrates after winning as Ballyboden St Enda's John McGuire is dejected. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
4. Small incidents matter and unsung heroes become key
In a rollercoaster encounter that contains so much head-spinning action, it is difficult to pin down the key moments. Yet this epic All-Ireland semi-final featured its share of pivotal incidents. Small in isolation, but critical in delivering the outcome. For Dingle there was Tom Leo O’Sullivan’s block on Ryan O’Dwyer in the 56th minute when Ballyboden had a chance to go five up and then the ball was worked downfield for Tom O’Sullivan’s two-pointer.
The two breaks off kickouts grabbed by Mikey Geaney near the close of extra-time, the point clipped over by Dylan Geaney near the end of the first half of extra-time to leave Dingle hanging in there.
For Ballyboden they will rue not converting one of their first-half goal chances, particulary the saves Gavin Curran produced to deny James Holland and O’Dwyer. Then there was the point opportunities wasted to go five up late in normal time and the Colm Basquel kick to win the game that flew across and wide on the far side. Then in extra-time, the Dublin kingpins saw three shots executed wildly when they searched for a levelling score.
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Dingle soared in stature as the second half progressed. Their leading lights shone brightly but they were aided by unsung heroes. Conor Flannery repeatedly thundered forward from defence and also effectively manned his centre-back berth. The oldest player in their squad Mikey Geaney feasted on those breaks and kicked an important extra-time point.
Tadhg Browne’s highlights reel included that vital goal, and a first-half point. In the second half he won a free that Paul Geaney converted in the second half, grabbed a Ballyboden kickout to set up a Tom O’Sullivan point, and frequently dropped back into defence to allow O’Sullivan to roam upfield.
It all added up.
Dingle manager Pádraig Corcoran Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
“Tadhg had a huge game for us,” said Corcoran.
“He’s had a great year with us and he’s worked so hard and trained so hard as well and he covered every blade of grass there outside in the field. The boys coming in off the back, huge impact from Ned and Mikey, like you said, and Sean Og.”
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Dingle's stunning comeback, Ballyboden regret, the Geaney-O'Sullivan impact
1. The stunning comeback that few saw coming
Given the capacity they have displayed for stirring revivals in their Kerry and Munster winning campaign, it is easy to understand why all hope hadn’t escaped the Dingle dressing-room at half-time yesterday. But for the neutral observers, this one looked wrapped up at that juncture in favour of the Dublin champions.
A nine-point deficit looked sizeable, the ten-point gap when Colm Basquel netted in the 36th minute to seemingly puncture Dingle’s optimism, felt more significant. Ballyboden were ahead by five points in the 53rd minute, by four points in the 56th minute, and by two points in injury-time. Even in extra-time, they made the decisive initial burst to go ahead by three.
That all fed into the pattern of a game which pointed towards Ballyboden advancement and you could have been forgiven for harbouring such thoughts. Yet the striking improvements in Dingle’s play gradually wore down their opponents and sparked another remarkable comeback. We’re three days into the 2026 season but the bar for spectacular turnarounds has been set high.
“Huge credit to our players because they just kept going at it,” stated Dingle boss Padraig Corcoran.
“They dug deep with huge resolve and huge mental strength. Coming out in the second half, we just had to throw everything at it. Fellas really stood up to be counted but there was nobody panicking.”
2. Dingle inspired by marquee men
The core of the Dingle side have experience of days in Kerry jerseys, while midfielder Mark O’Connor has excelled in the most demanding of AFL arenas. Yet when it came to energising their second-half comeback, it was their two most established Kerry senior players who supplied the power source.
Tom O’Sullivan had been a peripheral figure in the opening half, he moved to centre stage after the break. Pushed into a more offensive positing, he pinned Ballyboden back with his ball-playing gifts, carrying and creating and finishing. He registered six points from five shots, four of those his trademark slicer with the outside of his left, and the two-pointer to leave Dingle 1-19 to 1-17 adrift in the 57th minute was a majestic shot.
As a score it was surpassed though by one registered by a team-mate six minutes later. Paul Geaney lofted over a left-foot shot from a stationary position for the two-pointer that ulimately pushed this encounter to extra-time. After an opening half spent rooted to the bench due to injury, he shook off that ailment to bend the game to his will after his interval introduction.
Geaney scored 0-5 in the second half of normal time and 0-3 in the second half of extra time. Those tallies helped grant him man-of-the-match status, but it was his presence in attack that most shifted the momentum of the game and enabled Dingle to adopt a more direct approach that paid off.
“(Tom) absolutely drove it on and spoke so well in the dressing room as well,” revealed Corcoran.
“He’s a great leader in our group and he showed it there in the second half. He was inspirational really.
“Paul is just one of those guys who will do everything in his power to get himself right. He did the stuff when he came on. It was so important for us that he was able to stay on the field.”
3. Regret for Ballyboden
Ballyboden St-Enda’s first sampled an All-Ireland senior football semi-final in 2016, a positive extra-time experience against Munster opponents. They mounted an improbable comeback that day to drag Clonmel Commercials level and then seized their chance to win in the additional period. Another extra-time experience at the same competition stage yesterday was not as favourable. And while the club have suffered a semi-final loss previously, edged out by Kilcoo in January 2020, the pain of this one at the hands of Dingle will cut deeper.
It’s hard to envisage a superior first-half display. Ballyboden hit their stride early, surging four points clear inside five minutes, and by the interval they were nine clear, a position that was reflective of the control they had exerted. They had players shaping the game like goalkeeper Hugh O’Sullivan off the tee and midfielder Cein Darcy in the air. Ryan O’Dwyer, Ross McGarry, and Patrick Warren were all terrific as they kept the scoreboard ticking over.
There were other positions in the second half from where they looked set to kick on for the finish, but they couldn’t protect that position of scoreboard supremacy. To squander a winning position from there will be hard to wrap their heads around.
4. Small incidents matter and unsung heroes become key
In a rollercoaster encounter that contains so much head-spinning action, it is difficult to pin down the key moments. Yet this epic All-Ireland semi-final featured its share of pivotal incidents. Small in isolation, but critical in delivering the outcome. For Dingle there was Tom Leo O’Sullivan’s block on Ryan O’Dwyer in the 56th minute when Ballyboden had a chance to go five up and then the ball was worked downfield for Tom O’Sullivan’s two-pointer.
The two breaks off kickouts grabbed by Mikey Geaney near the close of extra-time, the point clipped over by Dylan Geaney near the end of the first half of extra-time to leave Dingle hanging in there.
For Ballyboden they will rue not converting one of their first-half goal chances, particulary the saves Gavin Curran produced to deny James Holland and O’Dwyer. Then there was the point opportunities wasted to go five up late in normal time and the Colm Basquel kick to win the game that flew across and wide on the far side. Then in extra-time, the Dublin kingpins saw three shots executed wildly when they searched for a levelling score.
Dingle soared in stature as the second half progressed. Their leading lights shone brightly but they were aided by unsung heroes. Conor Flannery repeatedly thundered forward from defence and also effectively manned his centre-back berth. The oldest player in their squad Mikey Geaney feasted on those breaks and kicked an important extra-time point.
Tadhg Browne’s highlights reel included that vital goal, and a first-half point. In the second half he won a free that Paul Geaney converted in the second half, grabbed a Ballyboden kickout to set up a Tom O’Sullivan point, and frequently dropped back into defence to allow O’Sullivan to roam upfield.
It all added up.
“Tadhg had a huge game for us,” said Corcoran.
“He’s had a great year with us and he’s worked so hard and trained so hard as well and he covered every blade of grass there outside in the field. The boys coming in off the back, huge impact from Ned and Mikey, like you said, and Sean Og.”
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Ballyboden Dingle GAA Talking Points