PAUL GEANEY BEGAN Saturday afternoon on the bench, restricted by injury and helplessly watching on for a first half where Dingle were steamrolled by Ballyboden St-Enda’s.
He entered the game at half-time with his side’s All-Ireland title hopes looking faint, yet as Dingle’s campaign was revived in spectacular fashion, Geaney was one of the key architects in propelling them towards a Croke Park decider.
He finished the evening as man-of-the-match, reward for his eight-point tally and responsible for the best score of the game, the outstanding two-pointer that carried an absorbing encounter into extra-time.
“I was in the dark with it really, but now I know I would have got an hour,” reflected the Dingle captain on the calf injury that had impacted his preparation.
““It’s good enough. Obviously not perfect. I have another two weeks now which is perfect. The calf from the last game.
“I played 50 minutes there so not too bad. The worry is obviously 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 and the game is to be won.”
That injury-time kick rescued Dingle at the close of normal time, a shot Geaney was willing to take on and not store any regret after as they chased the game.
“I actually had a chance just before that from there and I put Mark through and Mark went for goal and I thought that was it. I said if I get another chance here, I’m taking the shot. It was a bit pass the parcel over there. It went from Dylan to me to someone else to Conor and they threw it back to me and there was a pile of bodies.
“I said, ‘Look, I’m just having this one 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.’ It went over.”
All season Dingle’s resilience has dug them out of tight spots but this was a comeback victory on another level.
“The Dublin club teams are really powerful, I probably formed the opinion that if we could stay with them early we were in with a great shot,” outlined Geaney.
“They just took out of the blocks and ran us ragged in the first half. We hung on by our fingernails.
“Against us I couldn’t say that you’re ever going to be home and hosed because we’re going to play to the end like. It’s a lesson that we just learned over the couple of years, getting schoolings in the county championship in Kerry.
“Crokes was probably the one last year in the county final, I wouldn’t say we actually gave up as such but almost as a team we kind of accepted our fate. We just said this year that we were going to play to the full final whistle and see where that takes us. If nothing else our people will be proud of us. That’s the way we’ve approached it this year.
“We seemed to be dragging them all over the field in the second half and we seemed to dictate the pace of play. Our football kind of took over and it was almost playing on instinct. Tactics nearly went out the window, to be honest.
“Did we deserve it in the 60 minutes? Maybe not because they were so dominant in the first half and should have been out of sight, but we did deserve it because we stayed in the battle and we fought it out.”
Dingle's Tom O'Sullivan celebrates after winning. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
Their team was inspired by some sterling individual showings. Tom O’Sullivan demonstrated his class with six points in the second half of normal time.
“He was outrageous,” admitted Geaney.
“He was so in the zone so every time he got up there he just banged straight over. It takes the pressure off all the other guys there because when you’re looking to try and create space or a chance, you don’t even have to look because Tom O’Sullivan is just…over the bar and turn around again.”
The reassuring presence of AFL player Mark O’Connor around the middle also helped.
“It’s huge to have a man of that stature on the middle. You know the game’s in a melting pot. You have a man in the middle that can win you the next possession.
“He’s just that extra really composed player on the ball and he kicked the last one as well. Right man, right moment. Chips it over and we go two up.
“He’s an incredible leader. He’s fiercely positive the way he goes about his business and it’s always positive with him. He’s a huge player for us.”
Dingle's Tom Leo O'Sullivan and Mark O'Connor celebrate after winning. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
After the Kerry final success last October, Geaney referenced their squad meeting in 2018 when featuring in Croke Park was referenced as a collective ambition. They will realise that on 18 January, but converting that opportunity into silverware is the next task.
“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.
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“Job isn’t obviously anywhere done. We want to win the All-Ireland but the first goal was to get to Croke Park and we’re going to have a special day out with the club and it’s all about winning now really. We have to win it. It’s great to get there but hopefully we’ll have a special day.”
Before then he’ll be tuning in next Sunday to see West Kerry neighbours An Ghaeltacht in the All-Ireland intermediate final, a team that includes his brother-in-law Pádraig Ó Sé.
Pádraig Ó Sé of An Ghaeltacht. Nick Elliott / INPHO
Nick Elliott / INPHO / INPHO
“It was great for them (to win the semi-final) and they had a couple of injuries. Hopefully they’ll have their full compliment next week for their final, which is a tight turnaround. It’s very tight.
“It’s mighty because probably both snatched the deaths as well. The crowd was just going nuts there for both sets of games. It’s magic. I was down doing TG4. I was getting emotional looking up there (at the crowd).
“Hopefully they win and there’s celebrations next weekend in West Kerry and hopefully the week after again.”
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Paul Geaney: 'I said if I get another chance here, I'm taking the shot'
PAUL GEANEY BEGAN Saturday afternoon on the bench, restricted by injury and helplessly watching on for a first half where Dingle were steamrolled by Ballyboden St-Enda’s.
He entered the game at half-time with his side’s All-Ireland title hopes looking faint, yet as Dingle’s campaign was revived in spectacular fashion, Geaney was one of the key architects in propelling them towards a Croke Park decider.
He finished the evening as man-of-the-match, reward for his eight-point tally and responsible for the best score of the game, the outstanding two-pointer that carried an absorbing encounter into extra-time.
“I was in the dark with it really, but now I know I would have got an hour,” reflected the Dingle captain on the calf injury that had impacted his preparation.
““It’s good enough. Obviously not perfect. I have another two weeks now which is perfect. The calf from the last game.
“I played 50 minutes there so not too bad. The worry is obviously 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 and the game is to be won.”
That injury-time kick rescued Dingle at the close of normal time, a shot Geaney was willing to take on and not store any regret after as they chased the game.
“I actually had a chance just before that from there and I put Mark through and Mark went for goal and I thought that was it. I said if I get another chance here, I’m taking the shot. It was a bit pass the parcel over there. It went from Dylan to me to someone else to Conor and they threw it back to me and there was a pile of bodies.
“I said, ‘Look, I’m just having this one 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.’ It went over.”
All season Dingle’s resilience has dug them out of tight spots but this was a comeback victory on another level.
“The Dublin club teams are really powerful, I probably formed the opinion that if we could stay with them early we were in with a great shot,” outlined Geaney.
“They just took out of the blocks and ran us ragged in the first half. We hung on by our fingernails.
“Against us I couldn’t say that you’re ever going to be home and hosed because we’re going to play to the end like. It’s a lesson that we just learned over the couple of years, getting schoolings in the county championship in Kerry.
“Crokes was probably the one last year in the county final, I wouldn’t say we actually gave up as such but almost as a team we kind of accepted our fate. We just said this year that we were going to play to the full final whistle and see where that takes us. If nothing else our people will be proud of us. That’s the way we’ve approached it this year.
“We seemed to be dragging them all over the field in the second half and we seemed to dictate the pace of play. Our football kind of took over and it was almost playing on instinct. Tactics nearly went out the window, to be honest.
“Did we deserve it in the 60 minutes? Maybe not because they were so dominant in the first half and should have been out of sight, but we did deserve it because we stayed in the battle and we fought it out.”
Their team was inspired by some sterling individual showings. Tom O’Sullivan demonstrated his class with six points in the second half of normal time.
“He was outrageous,” admitted Geaney.
“He was so in the zone so every time he got up there he just banged straight over. It takes the pressure off all the other guys there because when you’re looking to try and create space or a chance, you don’t even have to look because Tom O’Sullivan is just…over the bar and turn around again.”
The reassuring presence of AFL player Mark O’Connor around the middle also helped.
“It’s huge to have a man of that stature on the middle. You know the game’s in a melting pot. You have a man in the middle that can win you the next possession.
“He’s just that extra really composed player on the ball and he kicked the last one as well. Right man, right moment. Chips it over and we go two up.
“He’s an incredible leader. He’s fiercely positive the way he goes about his business and it’s always positive with him. He’s a huge player for us.”
After the Kerry final success last October, Geaney referenced their squad meeting in 2018 when featuring in Croke Park was referenced as a collective ambition. They will realise that on 18 January, but converting that opportunity into silverware is the next task.
“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.
“Job isn’t obviously anywhere done. We want to win the All-Ireland but the first goal was to get to Croke Park and we’re going to have a special day out with the club and it’s all about winning now really. We have to win it. It’s great to get there but hopefully we’ll have a special day.”
Before then he’ll be tuning in next Sunday to see West Kerry neighbours An Ghaeltacht in the All-Ireland intermediate final, a team that includes his brother-in-law Pádraig Ó Sé.
“It was great for them (to win the semi-final) and they had a couple of injuries. Hopefully they’ll have their full compliment next week for their final, which is a tight turnaround. It’s very tight.
“It’s mighty because probably both snatched the deaths as well. The crowd was just going nuts there for both sets of games. It’s magic. I was down doing TG4. I was getting emotional looking up there (at the crowd).
“Hopefully they win and there’s celebrations next weekend in West Kerry and hopefully the week after again.”
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club Dingle Leader GAA Paul Geaney