REPORT: SSE AIRTRICITY MENS FIRST DIVISION
MATCHDAY 17: Kerry FC 2-0 Longford Town
Kerry FC welcomed Longford Town to Mounthawk Park for the first time this season as the two sides did battle before the Summer Break on a lovely evening for football in Tralee.
Last time out between the two sides, it was a hectic game from start to finish, which saw five goals, a sending off and a penalty missed in the dying moments. Luckily for Longford, they were on the better side of the result on the night, with Kerry FC having a score to settle to kick off the Bank Holiday weekend.
Last week, Kerry FC suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of league leaders Dundalk FC. A late goal in the first half took the wind out of Kerry’s sails, and Daryl Horgan added a second with twenty minutes to play. For Longford Town, they were handed a 5-1 thumping at the hands of Treaty United in Limerick. The goal from Eric Yoro came to make it 4-1 and was nothing more than a consolation at that late stage.
Kerry FC manager Colin Healy was very happy with his team’s performance in Louth last week and felt they were more than capable of picking up something on that night and a win this past Friday evening. Daniel Okwute and Alex Dunne were back in for selection as Daniel’s one-game suspension had been served and Dunne was fit enough to feature after a slight injury. Kerry FC were as ready as they could be for the game, besides the obvious injury of Ryan Kelliher, who will be kept on the sidelines for some time
FIRST HALF
The first opportunity came the way of Kerry FC when, in the sixth minute, a poor back pass led to an opportunity for Luke Palmer to dink the ball over Longford goalkeeper Harry Halwax. Luckily for the Midlands side, Halwax got enough of himself in the way to stop the shot from going goal-bound.
Longford had their first opportunity eleven minutes later when some intricate passing opened up a shot for Aaron Doran inside the area. Just as he took the shot, Kerry FC centre back Chris McQueen made a stupendous last-ditch block to clear away the danger and keep the score level.
In the twentieth minute, a Kerry FC corner landed just outside the area after a poor attempt at a clearance, and it landed to Sean McGrath. Sean’s shot was blocked and looped over everyone, nearly making its way into the back of the net, but instead went just over the crossbar.
First half substitute Sean O’Connell nearly opened the scoring from the unlikeliest of ways, eleven minutes before half time. A corner taken by Kerry’s number three went over everyone and hit the crossbar. It landed back out to Sean McGrath once again, but unfortunately, his shot went well wide.
Kerry FC dominated proceedings in the second half and deserved to take the lead, which they did just a minute before the interval. A free kick delivered into the area was met by a towering header from Kevin Williams, who headed across to Luke Palmer. Luke took one touch and rifled his effort into the bottom corner to score his fourth goal of the season and his second against the side in which he scored his first Kerry FC senior goal back in March.
SECOND HALF
Just a minute into the second half, Daniel Okwute tried an audacious effort outside the area, where his quick shot hit the right-hand post. It had beaten Halwax by some distance and was just half a meter from putting the Kingdom two goals to the good.
Four minutes later, Kerry FC were awarded a penalty when Daniel Okwute had his shirt pulled by Eric Yoro. If things were about to go from bad to worse for Longford, it doubled as Yoro received a straight red card for the challenge. Sean McGrath stepped up and dispatched his second penalty goal of the season to give Kerry FC some breathing space.
Kerry FC controlled proceedings from then on out, and Longford couldn’t lay so much as a jab on the Kerry FC heavyweights. A few more chances came in the second half, but nothing that would make any real difference in who the outstanding team of the night was.
Late into injury time, Daniel Okwute seemed to be taken down in the area by Halwax, and instead of pointing to the spot, the referee decided to blow the full-time whistle as Kerry FC went out comfortable 2-0 winners.
A truly brilliant performance by the Kingdom, who got their first win under Colin Healy whilst in the dugout. It also means Colin Healy remains unbeaten in Mounthawk Park as manager since taking over the reins (2 wins, 1 draw). Kerry FC now go into the summer break seventh in the table and just five points off the playoff places. Their next outing will be on the thirteenth of June as they travel to another Midlands side in Athlone Town.
KERRY FC TEAM: 1. Tim-Oliver Hiemer, 5. Chris McQueen, 4. Oran Crowe, 6. Carl Mujaguzi, 7. Sean McGrath (C) (GOAL PEN ‘53), 8. Ronan Teahan, 11. Daniel Okwute, 15. Kevin Williams, 18. Samuel Aladesanusi, 21. Luke Palmer (GOAL ‘44), 28. Niall Brookwell.
SUBS: Mathyas Randriamamy, Kennedy Amechi, Nathan Gleeson, Joe Adams, Cian Brosnan, Abel Alabi, Sean O’Connell, Finn Barrett, Alex Dunne.
LONGFORD TOWN TEAM: 1. Harry Halwax, 8. Emre Topcu, 12. Pharrell Manuel, 15. Darragh Murtagh, 17. Luke Wade Slater, 18. Osaze Irhue, 19. Aaron Doran, 27. Dean O’Shea (C), 29. Eric Yoro (RED CARD ‘52), 30. Andrew Spain, 99. Joshua Harsani Giurgi.
SUBS: Jack McCarthy, Francis Campbell, Mohammed Bodiaf, Emmanuel James, Daniel Chukwu, Jacob Flood Norton, Ryan Boyle, Stefan Ugbesia.
