Kerry FC play in their first-ever senior League of Ireland game this Friday night in the SSE Airtricity First Division.
Match Details:
Kerry FC v Cobh Ramblers
Competition: SSE Airtricity First Division (Matchday 1)
Date: 17 February 2023
Time: 19:45
Venue: Mounthawk Park, Tralee
LIVE COVERAGE:
Stream: www.loitv.ie (€7, Season Pass on sale for €120)
Radio: Full live commentary on Radio Kerry (96-98FM, www.radiokerry.ie)
OUR OPPONENTS:
COBH RAMBLERS
Ground: St. Colman’s Park, Cork
Founded: 1922
Last year’s position: 9th
Nickname: “Ramblers” or “The Rams” or “The Claret and Blue Army”
Fun Fact: Cobh were originally a field hockey club and until the British withdrawal from Ireland, many club members played with the British Army soldiers who were stationed at Cobh. This led to the reformation of Cobh Ramblers as a soccer club, since then they have had some notable players don the shirt such as Roy Keane, David Meyler, Stephen Ireland and Westlife singer Nicky Byrne!
INJURY UPDATE:
Kerry FC will be without the services of Mark Carey for the opening fixture against Cobh Ramblers. Late fitness assessments will be carried out on Stephen McCarthy, Junior Ankomah and Cianan Cooney who remain doubtful.
‘WHAT THEY SAID’:
First-Team Manager Billy Dennehy: We are expecting a tough game, every game you play at this level will be tough but nothing that won’t be too expected in terms of the league. A lot of players recycle through the clubs so there isn’t too much unknown in regard to individual players in the Cobh Ramblers group. But for us, I’ve always been a manager who always focuses on ourselves first, if you get your own systems and structures right, everyone will be clear on how we play and operate then. It’s obviously up to the opposition to worry about that too. We will be concentrating a lot on ourselves this week in terms of the approach that we have. Of course we will pick out some key information that we will discuss with the players, other than that, we will concentrate on ourselves.
Captain Matt Keane: Look Friday night is going to be massive. This Friday is going to be the first time a lot of the lads will have played in this sort of environment and in front of a big crowd. From what I’ve been hearing from a lot of people it seems like it will be near impossible to get tickets. So ya, the crowd is massive to us, especially throughout the season. We are under no illusions that there is going to be good days and bad days. But when you have the backing of the supporters it makes it a lot easier. If we can get those in Mounthawk up for the game on Friday, we will be able to feed off the crowd which makes all the difference. So building that relationship between the team to the supporters will be very important. Seeing the excitement alone from the open day last Sunday and seeing the excitement from the kids has given us all a boost.
