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Gavin O’Connor looks at tomorrow evening’s clash between Austin Stacks and Dingle in the Senior Club Championship Semi-Final, Kennedy Park, Annascaul, (throw-in 6:30pm)…
Dingle’s Gavan Curran is tackled by Shane Carroll of Austin Stacks in last year’s Senior Club Championship semi-final. Photo by Dermot Crean.
THE ROCK will head west on Saturday to face Dingle who are reigning champions and one of the the most exciting young sides to emerge in recent years.
For the last two years in this competition, Austin Stacks have knocked out by the Dingle so Stephen Stack and his charges will be looking to redress the balance a bit (although they got revenge for the 2014 defeat by beating Dingle in the championship later that year).
This Dingle side is bedecked with All-Ireland colleges and underage medals while they also picked up a senior county title earlier than expected when the shocked Dr Crokes in the final last year.
Alongside established inter-county stars Paul and Mikey Geaney, a litany of young talent is emerging at the end of the peninsula.
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Kerry U21’s, Barry O’Sullivan, Matthew Flaherty, Marc O’Connor, Conor Geaney, Tom O’Sullivan and Tom Leo O’Sullivan are all destined for big things, not only for their club, but for Kerry as well.
The Rock have a few young players coming through themselves, most notably 2015 Kerry minor Jack Morgan and Kerry U21 Greg Horan who is now a real leader in the side and Michael O’Donnell to name but a few.
A crucial player for Stacks is 2015 top scorer, David Mannix, who has struggled with injury since towards the end of last year. Whether he’s fit and firing could have a large bearing on this match.
In the previous round, The Rock beat the always-battling Milltown/Castlemaine side by 0-14 to 0-9. They were also not too far off the county’s in-form side Dr Crokes in a goalfest of a Division 1 league final a number of weeks ago.
Barring injuries, Dingle have one of the most formidable line-ups in the county now and last year’s club title showed they’re beginning to ripen earlier than expected. It should be a cracking encounter.
Verdict – Dingle
