The First Division season doesn’t get much busier than this week as teams embark on their 3rd game in just 7 days tomorrow night, with the Kingdom on the road once more to Wicklow to take on Bray Wanderers tomorrow night in the Carlisle Grounds.
Well, it was certainly a Bank Holiday to leave in the distant memory for Kerry FC. Two defeats at the hands of Finn Harps in Donegal and Cobh Ramblers respectively, the Kingdom will be looking forward instead of backwards. Two trips up the M7 over the next two Friday nights have Kerry up against an in-form Bray Wanderers side before a repeat journey towards the M50 has us away to the students of UCD next Friday night.
Kerry will be looking for a bounce back, but the Carlisle Grounds has never been a happy hunting ground for Kerry; in fact, Bray have a 100% record against Kerry on their home turf, winning on all 4 previous occasions. Bray remain a team Kerry have yet to beat in the 9 previous meetings and only secured a draw on one of those occasions. So Kerry will have to be at their very best to secure any sort of result on the road tomorrow night.
As for Bray, they are flying high at the moment. 6 wins in a row have the Seagulls sitting second in the table and just 3 points behind the league leaders, Dundalk. Having started the campaign with a host of away games while the new artificial surface was being laid in the Carlisle Grounds, Bray are certainly making home advantage count, and this Friday’s game will be their fourth home game on the trot.
Matchday 12
Bray Wanderers v Kerry FC – Friday, April 25th – 7:45pm Kick Off – Carlisle Grounds
Previous Meetings – All Competitions
Kerry FC Wins 0 Draws 1 Bray Wanderers Wins 8
Did You Know?
This will be Kerry’s first time playing on the new artificial surface in the Carlisle Grounds. Since Brays change to astro, there are now more artificial surfaces in the league than grass, with Finn Harps, Longford, Wexford & Treaty now being the only sides in the league playing on grass.
Injury Update
After a busy few days, Conor McCarthy is waiting on a number of players off the injury table ahead of this one. Nathan Gleeson is nearing his return and could be considered for the trip to Bray. Samuel Aladesanusi was only able for 45 minutes on Monday evening and will be assessed again this week. Ronan Teahan remains unavailable due to illness.
What they said?
Conor McCarthy – “If we perform at our best and with the right attitude, I know we can be competitive in the game. If we are missing any of those things, we simply won’t be. They are very consistent. Look, it’s been a busy few days, so we will get a proper look at them this week. They’ve been going well, so it’s our job now to go up there and disrupt that.”
