After a historic night in the Cup last Friday, Kerry return to league action on Friday night with the visit of Longford Town to Mounthawk Park this coming Friday evening.
Well, Kerry are on the crest of a wave following a momentous night in the club’s history on Friday. A dismissal inside the opening minute for the visitors was the tonic Kerry needed, and goals from Cian Brosnan and Joe Adams set Kerry on their way to the Quarter Final for the very first time in the club’s history. Sligo Rovers will be the visitors to Mounthawk Park in a few weeks’ time in a game that is already carrying a high billing in the town.
Longford, meanwhile, can be very proud of their efforts as they went agonisingly close to knocking the favourites Shamrock Rovers out of the cup in Tallaght on Sunday. The Premier Division outfit needed two penalties to shrug off the First Division side, who can take plenty of confidence from their display.
But it’s full focus on the league as the sides enter the final phase of the campaign with just 9 games to go. Kerry are chasing a higher finish than the two previous 10th-place finishes. Kerry currently sit on 25 points in 9th, 3 points behind both Finn Harps and Longford. Kerry knows a win would push them ahead of Longford into 8th and potentially just 2 points behind 6th-placed Wexford FC. With Treaty 10 points clear in the play-off places, Kerry could be eyeing up a ‘best-of-the-rest’ finish to the League campaign.
Matchday 28
Kerry FC v Longford Town – Friday, August 22nd – 19:45 Kick Off – Mounthawk Park
Previous Meetings – All Competitions
Kerry FC Wins 3 Draws 2 Longford Town Wins 6
Did You Know?
Kerry FC may return to league action this Friday, but the club is still on a high after last week’s victory over Cobh Ramblers, which booked Kerry’s first-ever appearance in the last 8 of the Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup. Former Kerry FC captain Andy Spain now lines out with Longford Town. The Kildare native made the switch from the Kingdom to the Midlands during the off-season and has been a regular feature in the Midlanders’ Starting XI.
Injury Update
There are no fresh injury concerns for the Kingdom ahead of the visit of Longford to Tralee. Arran Healy has returned to training and will be available for selection. Ewan Lee returns after his absence last week, as he was cup-tied having played with UCC in the opening round. Ryan Kelliher and Nathan Gleeson remain long-term absentees, while Tim Oliver Hiemer continues his recovery from a broken finger. Daniel Okwute is suspended for the fixture.
What they said?
Colin Healy – “You’d like to think we can carry the cup momentum back to the league. You know the games we dropped points in, it’s always been by tiny margins. Maybe a little mistake or something small, but overall the performances have been good, defensively really strong, and sometimes we just didn’t take our chances in certain moments. That was the difference against Cobh; we took our chances in those moments. Longford will be a tough game, we are well aware of that, but our lads will give everything on the pitch, and they’ve always been that way. I’ve never come off the pitch questioning, is there a certain attitude with them, it’s never been the case. They come in and train very well, listen in meetings, and we always have a game plan. They’ve been a great bunch to work with.