History repeats as Kiskeam’s 2016 heroes break Fermoy hearts

Ten years ago, Kiskeam delivered on that famous day to bring down Fermoy and reach the senior ranks for the very first time. Back to the present, they defeated the very same opposition to reach the Premier Intermediate Football Championship final.

And it was an absolute thriller in Mallow.

Extra time was required to separate the two, and it was many of those 2016 heroes that delivered again for the Duhallow club on Sunday.

Dave Scannell – who kicked 1-4 in the 2016 final – came off the bench here with a quarter of an hour to go, immediately assisting what should have been a goal and kicking a point. He would have a second white flag assist to his name before sustaining an injury and being withdrawn.

His replacement, Daniel Fitzgerald, was the starting full-forward in 2016, and he came on to grab the winning goal in extra time. The finish sparked a frenzy of celebrations, but even that paled in comparison to the scenes at the conclusion.

“Excuse me, I'm hoarse,” where the first words uttered by manager Dan Cronin, and for good reason, it had been such an absorbing contest. “Unbelievable,” he said. “Two sides, they went toe to toe there for an hour and a half.

“That's the beauty of football. Nobody gave up. Nobody gave a quarter-inch. Everybody tore into it. The Fermoy boys, they're gutted. And we could have easily been the gutted side as well.

“There was nothing in it,” Cronin said. “But I’m so, so proud of our boys. 

Just unbelievably proud of them.

“Dave Scannell came on there and he was flying for the first three or four balls. And unfortunately, he pulled his calf then and we had to take him off again.

“But no better guy to bring in than Daniel Fitzgerald. And he's had a really tough season, he's been injured for a lot of the year,” said Cronin. “And he's worked really hard to come back. And to see that composed finish at the end, they're the guys that drag on the young fellas with them.

“And I'm delighted for Dave and Daniel, Mike Casey and AJ O'Connor. And Gene Casey. 

All the guys that were there 10 years ago. They are still driving it.” 

The second half had been a fantastic battle. Extra time was better again, both teams fighting desperately to prevail, but in the end, it would be Kiskeam’s day.

“Both sides have been relegated in the last two years from Senior A, we were down before Fermoy. And I suppose, at the time, it was all doom and gloom in the club. And it was hard to pick ourselves up off the floor. But I came in last year and I got a great buy-in from the players, as I knew I would, being a former player.

“And from the word go in January last year, everybody put their shoulder to the wheel. We've had mixed results in our league campaigns. But we built and built and we got new players.

Promising

“I knew the potential was there, but you can never say that will come true. But I knew from their work-rate and their appetite. And I knew once they get going, all our people will get behind them. And today is a culmination of that. But today was only for getting over one game.

“The big one is ahead of us. Can we rise to the occasion? Of course we can. Can we win it? Who knows? But we'll give it everything we have. 

It's just great for the club. Great for the players. I'm so happy for the players.” 

The scenes at full-time between the players and supporters were incredible to watch.

“We draw on that emotion a bit with our players,” Cronin explained. “We always did, in my time and the time before me, there's always been a great connection between the supporters and the players in Kiskeam.

“And it's really a family thing. And for our boys now to taste that again after 10 years. Some of them have been there previously, some haven't, it’s all new ground.

“But it's progress for the club. Last year was progress. This year is unbelievable progress. And that's what we have to do every year, keep going, keep producing a couple of players here and there, hold the older boys as long as we can!”