With Kerry firmly within the race for the play-off places as the season enters its final block of 9 games, it’s time to set the league formalities to one side as a place in the Club Orange Men’s FAI Cup Quarter-Finals is at stake tomorrow evening in the Showgrounds, as Kerry face Premier Division opponents Sligo Rovers in the Third Round.
Kerry arrive at this round after a simply magical night in Mounthawk Park a couple of weeks ago, knocking Shelbourne out of the competition. As we know, Kerry don’t do it the easy way. Having come from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 late on, a stoppage-time equaliser forced the tie into extra time and eventual penalties. Kerry went 2-0 and 3-1 down in the shootout, and it looked like it wasn’t to be, but hero Harry Halwax stopped 2 crucial penalties to force sudden death, and Kerry were victors 6-5 in the end. Que the Mounthawk Park pandemonium which has quickly become associated with this club and this competition.
But tomorrow brings a totally different test and a 638km round trip to the Showgrounds to face another Premier Division side, in Sligo Rovers. Of course, it’s hard to mention Kerry and Sligo Rovers in the same breath without remembering the 2025 semi-final between the sides. An Owen Elding hat-trick had the visitors in cruise control on a September night in Tralee. But a Cian Brosnan brace and a spot kick from Joe Adams forced extra time, and Mounthawk Park was shaking. Que absolute delirium when Daniel Okwute rifled the ball into the net in the 117th minute, and Kerry pulled off the seemingly impossible. A truly astonishing night for a club only in its third season in the League of Ireland.
But Colin Healy will be aware of the task at hand tomorrow night in the Yeats County. Although Sligo may be sitting last in the Men’s Premier Division, they are one step higher on the football pyramid than Kerry and will have their eyes firmly set on a place in the last 8 of the competition. But Kerry do come into this game on an impressive run of form. Despite the late defeat to Cork City in Turners Cross last Friday night, Kerry have one of the best runs of form in the league since the turn of the summer break back in June, which has catapulted Kerry right into the play-off mix with 9 games to go.
Sligo Rovers enjoyed a comfortable passage from the Second Round with a 4-0 away win over non-league Janesboro in Limerick. Despite sitting bottom of the Premier Division, they are under new management under Darren Purse, who will be looking to turn things around as the season enters its run-in. There is no doubting the Cup takes on a life of its own, but Sligo will be looking to add a good cup run to add to their survival hopes.
Head-to-head
Kerry FC Wins – 1 Draws – 0 Sligo Rovers Wins – 0
Did You Know?
This will be just the second ever meeting between the Kingdom and Sligo Rovers. The sides met previously in last year’s quarter-final of the competition when Kerry came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 after extra time in a famous night in Mounthawk Park.
Injury Update
Colin Healy has a nearly fully fit squad to choose from for the trip to the Showgrounds tomorrow night. Finn Barrett and Luke Doolan continue to be out short-term, while Ryan Kelliher continues his long spell on the sidelines with an ACL injury. It’s been a busy week for the Kingdom with 3 games in 7 days, but there are no reported knocks from those 3 ties.
‘What they said’
Colin Healy – “Look, we’ve done ever so well to get into the next round of the cup. It’s going to be a difficult game against a Premier Division side; it’s always a tough place to go, and they will have a strong home support up there. Obviously, they’ve got a new manager in as well, so he is getting his ideas across to the players. It will be a tough game for us. But our players are really looking forward to it. Our fans are travelling up in their numbers as they always do. But it will be a great game, and we are all looking forward to it. We will be well prepared for the game as we always are. The run of form we are in is a credit to our players; they have been outstanding. Some of the performances have been excellent.”
Ewan Lee – “It’s one of those that we’ve been so busy over the last few weeks that we haven’t given it a huge amount of thought until this week. It feels like the Shelbourne game was just a week or two ago. But we’ve had a good week of training now where all the focus is on the Sligo game. In the First Division you play everyone 4 times a season, so naturally you are more familiar with the players and the style of play. I know we would have played Sligo last year, but like ourselves, their team would have changed quite a bit, so we need to see where we can get joy off things, but our approach is the same whether it be a League or Cup game.”