A burning desire to emulate the achievements of their 1992 All-Ireland winning side has been the inspiration behind Dr Crokes march to the All-Ireland club football final, according to goalkeeper and Diarmuid Murphy's understudy on the Kerry team, Kieran Cremin. Above the fireplace in Eddie O'Sullivan's Tatler Jack pub on Plunkett Street in Killarney is a framed picture of the Dr Crokes team that captured the All-Ireland club football title in 1992. Amid an impressive display of photographs, newspaper cuttings and jerseys, it takes pride of place but that could soon change. "There'll be a new picture going up over the fireplace if we can do the business on St. Patrick's Day," jokes Dr Crokes goalkeeper Kieran Cremin. "Eddie, who was team trainer in '92 and is now a selector, is very proud of that photo and rightly so. But he might have to make room for a picture of the present team if we can win this All-Ireland. The '92 team has been an inspiration to us and we would love to emulate what they achieved." Kieran, who has already won two All-Ireland medals with Kerry as sub goalkeeper in 2004 and last year, was only 11 when former All-Star Connie Murphy famously captained Crokes to victory over Thomas Davis of Tallaght in the 1992 All-Ireland decider. The only links with the present set-up are manager Pat O'Shea, who lined out at corner forward, the aforementioned Eddie 'Tatler' O'Sullivan and fellow selector Martin Burns, who was a panel member. And not forgetting a certain Colm 'Gooch' Cooper, who was the team mascot. Crokes set out on the long and winding road to Croke Park last summer when they defeated the Kenmare district team in the first round of the Kerry senior championship. They recorded further wins over Milltown/Castlemaine and Mid-Kerry to set up a meeting with holders South Kerry in the county final for the second year-in-a-row. In a game which saw Kingdom legend Maurice Fitzgerald stretchered off following an accidental collision with his captain Paul O'Connor, South Kerry snatched a dramatic 0-12 to 1-8 victory courtesy of Bryan Sheehan's late, late point from 60 yards. "We were very disappointed to lose the county final, but at least we gave a much better account of ourselves than in 2005 when South Kerry beat us comfortably. They had five or six All-Ireland medal holders in their team and were very strong all over the field," the Crokes 'keeper remembers. Because South Kerry are a divisional team and are therefore not allowed to compete in the provincial and All-Ireland championships, Dr Crokes went forward to represent the Kingdom in the series, and they quickly put the disappointment of losing the county final behind them when scoring a surprise 2-10 to 0-10 win over the mighty Nemo Rangers of Cork. Making the most of their second chance, Crokes were full value for their victory over an admittedly depleted Nemo team, with star attacker 'Gooch' Cooper - who had been well contained by the South Kerry defence - showing a welcome return to form by contributing 1-4. A dominant first half display laid the foundations for Dr Crokes' 2-5 to 0-8 victory over The Nire of Waterford in a hard-fought provincial final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on December 10. The game was barely a minute old when Cooper had the ball in the net. He swooped for a second goal 11 minutes later and the Kerry representatives went on to lead by 2-4 to 0-3 at the interval. The Nire battled back in fine style following the change of ends, but wayward finishing did not help their cause (they had nine wides) as Crokes held on to land their third Munster crown (their previous wins were in 1990 and '91). "The Nire threw everything at us in the second half and we were left hanging on in the end. Without trying to take anything away from them, though, it was our sixth game in as many weeks and we were a tired team. It was a big relief for us to be ahead at the final whistle." Cooper converted two penalties as Dr Crokes maintained their winning run in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Ruislip. London kingpins St. Brendan's were just three points adrift at half-time, 0-3 to 0-6, but the visitors took control after the restart and Cooper's haul of 2-6 helped ease them to a 2-12 to 0-6 success. Pat O'Shea's charges needed two attempts to see off Leinster champions Moorefield in the All-Ireland semi-final. In the drawn encounter at the Limerick Gaelic Grounds, the Kildare side came from four points down with less than 10 minutes remaining to salvage a 0-12 to 1-9 draw. Colm Cooper was once again superb in the first half, scoring the only goal after nine minutes, as Crokes went into the break leading by 1-6 to 0-5. With fellow Kerry star Eoin Brosnan excelling at midfield, the black and ambers maintained their four-point advantage until a late Moorefield rally yielded unanswered points from Ger Naughton, Jason Phillips and Patrick Murray. The teams renewed their rivalry at Nenagh and this time Dr Crokes made no mistake, winning by 2-9 to 0-8. The game was level on three different occasions in the first half, with Moorefield responding impressively to David Moloney's 17th minute goal. The Killarney club held a slender 1-4 to 0-6 lead at the break, but Moorefield were on level terms by the end of the third quarter. Another tight finish looked to be on the cards, but in the last 11 minutes Crokes notched an unanswered 1-4 to break Moorefield hearts. Points from Moloney, Kevin O'Leary and Ambrose O'Donovan put daylight between the teams before Eoin Brosnan sealed the win with a second goal. "Having beaten the likes of Rhode and Tyrrellspass in Leinster, we knew Moorefield would be a tough nut to crack. They were a well-balanced team and all that I can say is that we were very happy to get over them. They gave us two tough games which should stand us in good stead for the final," Kieran says. The Bandon-based garda admits that Dr Crokes have surpassed many people's expectations by getting this far. He points out that with an average age of 22, they will be one of the youngest teams ever to play in an All-Ireland club final. "We're an exceptionally young side and I think the younger lads have shown a lot of maturity throughout the campaign. I'm 26 and the only two fellas that are older than me are our captain James Fleming and David Moloney, who are both 30. Eoin Brosnan is the same age as me, 'Gooch' is only 23 and the rest of the lads are younger still. "When you factor in our loss in the county final and how we had been written off after that, I think we have done very well to reach the All-Ireland final." Cremin is under no illusion about the task his team faces against four-times Andy Merrigan Cup holders Crossmaglen. The Armagh kingpins have won an incredible 11 county championships on the trot and showed all their guile and experience when disposing of Roscommon's St. Brigid's in the All-Ireland semi-final. "We know that we have our work cut out to beat Crossmaglen. They are a very formidable team and have seven or eight guys on the Armagh panel. They've all won All-Irelands, whereas Colm Cooper and Eoin Brosnan are the only two players on our team with All-Ireland final experience. "All that we can do is give it our best shot and see where it takes us." The Crokes custodian is fulsome in his praise of Pat O'Shea, who has somehow managed to juggle the Kerry and Dr Crokes management jobs in recent months. "Pat has been brilliant for Crokes and I'm sure he'll be just as successful with Kerry. Since he got the Kerry job, he has only missed one training session with the club. He has a fierce passion for the game and that rubs off on the rest of us. "Pat, Eddie and Martin have been over us for the past three years and in that time we've made huge progress. They've brought us through a transitional period to within 60 minutes of an All-Ireland club title. "Laune Rangers were the last team from Kerry to win an All-Ireland club and that was 11 years ago. It would be some achievement for the county if we could end that barren spell this year and if Ardfert and Duagh could also win the All-Ireland intermediate and junior titles. I wouldn't say it has ever been done before," he concludes. Tweet

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