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Dr. Crokes are hungry for more silverware

Johnny Buckley

Johnny Buckley

By John Harrington

When Dr. Crokes beat Slaughtneil in the AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Final on St. Patrick’s day this year, a load was lifted.

Winning the Andy Merrigan Cup had become something of an obsession for a generation of players that had won Munster titles in 2006, 2011, 2012, and 2013 but then fell short thereafter.

You would have understood if their appetite had been sated by finally getting their hands on the much coveted silverware.

Instead they’ve reached another AIB Munster Club SFC Final where they’ll play Nemo Rangers on Sunday, and are arguably playing better football now than they were this time last year.

According to midfielder Johnny Buckley, their long awaited All-Ireland triumph has eased the pressure on the team but not dulled their edge in the slightest.

“There's definitely a bit of pressure off,” said Buckley. “One aspect of pressure is we've our own internal pressure but the over-riding pressure of having got to all them semi-finals and never having got over the line, I suppose there's an element of that gone.

“What's great to see is the hunger that's there this year. Ever since there was never a satisfaction that the box was ticked and we were happy out now.

“It was straight back to business. We're lucky that we've the same team, not too many retirees, and we've a continuation of the management team.

“There's a huge hunger to get back having tasted it once. It would be great to try and get back there again hopefully.”

Johnny Buckley

Johnny Buckley

The bitter memory of coming up short in the past is still a source of motivation for the more experienced players in the squad like Buckley despite their All-Ireland triumph earlier this year.

“Yeah, we're conscious that there have been guys who've come in over the last number of years and have won county championship and an All-Ireland," he said.

“They don't be long getting a reminder that this isn't always what it's like, that you're just preparing for big games.

“It's not meant with any malice, it's just for them to know how important that is and to make the most of it when they're there because who knows what will happen next year and beyond.”

Having a driven man like Pat O’Shea in charge of the team has helped keep everyone focused.

He was appointed manager after Dr. Crokes failed to win County titles in 2014 and 2015 and has so far helped deliver two county titles, one Munster title, and one All-Ireland by demanding that players raise their standards.

Dr Crokes v Kilmurry-Ibrickane - AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship Semi-Final

Dr Crokes v Kilmurry-Ibrickane - AIB Munster GAA Football Senior Club Championship Semi-Final

“There’s no doubt about it, we had two bad years, we had let our standards slip,” said Buckley.

“It was a frustrating couple of years. The management that came in did a great job but after the two years fellas were delighted to hear Pat's name was in the hat because fellas had trained under him and fellas knew what he could bring.

“He came in and from the word go, that first meeting we had, he's really raised the standards and told us what we're capable of and we just have to go and reach them standards and achieve it. He's been the real driving force of the whole thing.”

Dr. Crokes will go into Sunday’s Final as favourites, but Buckley knows they’ll have their hands full with Nemo Rangers, the most successful club in the history of the game.

“They look seriously impressive," he said. "They have the bit of experience and youth around the field, they'll be a massive tough test.”