Played in Fitzgerald Stadium on Sunday afternoon, it was a game that Dr Crokes dominated from start to finish while Spa unfortunately never got moving.

Within the first six minutes Dr Crokes had already put 1-4 on the board, Mike Casey slotting past James Devane for an opening goal with points from Evan Looney, Daithi Casey, Mike Casey and Tony Brosnan shortly after. A pointed free from Evan Cronin opened the Spa account but Crokes were already dominant on all fronts, and Tony Brosnan added three more scores to make it 0-1 to 1-8 after just 23minutes of play. While Evan Cronin added two more late in the half, Tony Brosnan responded with two for Crokes at the other end and by half time Crokes has a commanding lead at 1-10 to 0-3.

That advantage was extended with two early points for Crokes as the second half began, again Evan replying with two for Spa, before Crokes were reduced to 14 men in the 36th minute when David Shaw was sent to the line. That didn't deter them however, and points from Kieran O'Leary, Brian Looney and Tony Brosnan soon followed. Spa did get close on goal with one effort slipped off Niall McCarthy's boot and edged just wide and a second chance shortly thereafter from a trademark Shane Cronin sprint was cancelled at the last moment for over-carrying. Kieran O'Leary with another Crokes point made it Spa 0-5 to Crokes 1-16 at the end of the third quarter.

A long effort from Spa dropped into the Crokes goalmouth and was tipped over by Shane Murphy but the point was quickly cancelled out by Cillian O'Regan at the other end a moment later. With five minutes left on the clock, the Spa goal finally came from a lovely run by Dara Moynihan who blasted it to the back of the net. While Shane Cronin added a point shortly after, it was too little too late. A melee in injury time saw Crokes reduced to 12 men, Kieran O'Leary and Tony Brosnan given their marching orders and Chris Doncel knocking over one final point for Crokes at the very end. Final score Spa 1-7 Dr Crokes 1-18.

Congratulations to Dr Crokes on their win.

Hard luck to our team and management and wishing a speedy recovery to all our injured players.

Spa: James Devane, Brian Lynch, Dan O'Donoghue, Shane Lynch, Ryan O'Carroll, Shane Cronin, Gary Vaughan, Liam Kearney, Ciaran Spillane, Conor Stack, Evan Cronin, Mike McCarthy, Cian Tobin, Mike Foley, David Spillane. Subs: Dara Moynihan, Niall McCarthy, Eoin Fitzgerald, Cian Murphy, Mike O'Donoghue

Dr Crokes: Shane Murphy, David Naughton, Mark Fitzgerald, John Payne, Evan Looney, Mark Cooper, Michael Potts, Mark O'Shea, David Shaw, Gavin O'Shea, Daithi Casey, Brian Looney, Tony Brosnan, Kieran O'Leary, Mike Casey. Subs: Tom Doyle, Micheál Burns, Michael Moloney, Cillian O'Regan, Chris Doncel,

Referee: Padraig O'Sullivan (Firies)

Photos: Anne Holland