The year UCC stormed the Cork SFC and Kerry did the talking

Fifteen years ago this October, UCC pulled off the remarkable. Sigerson Cup winners in March, they were Cork senior football champions by mid-October. It was their first county title since 1999 secured. Their tenth in all.

And it was anything but a straightforward campaign.

It began at Cloughduv in late April, UCC against Carbery. And it even almost ended there. They led by five with time almost up. A penalty hauled Carbery level. Extra time that nobody wanted would follow.

What saved them was Johnny Buckley. The Dr Crokes midfielder climbed highest under pressure, the move ended with Paul Geaney landing the equaliser, and in the additional period UCC outscored their opponents five points to two to survive.

They had been in serious trouble and they knew it. Manager Paul O'Keeffe would later admit they scraped through most of their games that year.

KERRY POWER 

Of the 15 who started the county final, eight were from Kerry. Daithí Casey and Johnny Buckley from Dr Crokes, Paul Geaney from Dingle, Peter Crowley from Laune Rangers, Mike Griffin from Na Gaeil, Jamie O'Sullivan from Kilcummin, Stephen O'Brien from Kenmare, Gavan O'Grady from Glenbeigh/Glencar. Niall Daly was the sole Roscommon rep, hailing from Padraig Pearses.

The two Kerry forwards at the heart of everything were Casey and Geaney, then still promising underage players, long before their All-Ireland medals that would follow.

Casey finished the championship with 1-19. Geaney contributed 2-10, including 2-2 in the quarter-final win over Clonakilty that was one of the standout individual displays of the entire county championship that year.

Having beaten St Nick’s in Round 4 and overcoming Clon in the quarters, they faced Avondhu in the semi-final. And it all seemed to clicked.

Peter Crowley was immense at full-back, nullifying Cian O'Riordan completely. Matthew Galvin did likewise on Tom Monaghan. Avondhu shot eleven wides and never created a goal chance of note. UCC won 0-12 to 0-8 and marched on to the decider.

THE FINAL 

The showpiece was a different prospect, though. Castlehaven, with Mark Collins, Brian Hurley and the Cahalanes were many people's pick. They gave UCC everything they could handle in front of 7,027 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

With five minutes left, the sides were level.

Then, it all changed.

Geaney was fouled, Casey stepped up and buried it. O'Grady, who had been brought on as a substitute, clipped over two points, and it finished 1-12 to 0-10.

Mitchelstown man Shane Beston was top class in the decider. Sean Kiely chipped in 0-2 from wing-back. But the man who mattered most, when it mattered most, was Casey. He would finish with 1-4, all from placed balls, all crucially important.

What followed was perhaps even more impressive. Heading off into the Munster championship, UCC dismantled Moyle Rovers in the Munster semi-final by 5-12 to 1-5, Geaney helping himself to 2-5 on that occasion, with 2-3 from play.

Then came the Munster final, and a different proposition, their opponents were Dr Crokes. That meant that both Casey and Buckley would have to line out against their own teammates.

Crokes would end up winning it, 3-14 to 2-10, Casey scoring two goals, killing one dream to live another.

Many of those UCC players would later go on to win All-Ireland medals.

Paul Geaney, Peter Crowley, Johnny Buckley and Stephen O'Brien were all central to Kerry's successes in the years that followed. Niall Daly would go on to be a stalwart of the Roscommon setup for over a decade, and only retired at the end of last year.

It would have been the perfect full-circle moment had O'Keeffe's UCC gotten over the line against UL on Wednesday night in the Sigerson final.

But sport has a way of denying us the endings we crave.