With a heatwave declared by Met Éireann, summer football is most definitely underway, as Kerry head to the sunny south-east tomorrow night to face fellow play-off chasers Wexford FC in Ferrycarrig Park.
With Shels coming to Mounthawk Park next Friday night, Kerry will be itching to get back to winning ways after last week’s hiccup at Markets Field. There is no doubt the game was swinging the Kingdom’s way before Matt Connors’ dismissal in the 47th minute. A frustrating night on Shannonside for Colin Healy but, as is the case with this league, 7 days later you can put things right very quickly.
With 3 back-to-back wins for the Kingdom after the break, Healy’s side were catapulted up to 6th in the table and just two points off the play-off places. Longford’s win has knocked both Wexford and Kerry down a position, but Wexford’s loss in Donegal means the Kingdom remain 2 behind Elliott’s side heading to Ferrycarrig.
This league is a marathon, not a sprint, and there will be plenty more twists and turns over the remaining 14 games. Wexford themselves have endured a difficult run of form, winless in 5, the last coming against UCD in May. They will be hungry for the 3 points, and a win would put a small bit of daylight back between the sides as the race for the play-offs gets ever closer.
One thing for sure is we are likely to see goals between the sides, with non game between the sides ever finishing 0-0 and only on 3 occasions did either side fail to find the net in the previous 14 meetings between the sides on opposite sides of the isle.
Head-to-head
Kerry FC Wins – 2 Draws – 4 Wexford FC Wins – 8
Did You Know?
There have been at least 2 goals scored in each of the 14 meetings between the sides, with only 3 occasions when one side hasn’t scored. So you can expect goals in Ferrycarrig Park!
Injury Update
It’s a cleaner bill of health for Colin Healy than he has endured in previous weeks. Matt Connor will miss out through suspension following his red card last week. Harry Halwax is back in training ahead of this one. Arran Healy has also returned to on-field training while Matt Britton and Sean McGrath are both back to fitness. Finn Barrett is expected to return in the coming weeks.
‘What they said’
Colin Healy – “We’ve performed well up there; we got a draw last time we were there with a good performance. Listen, the players are in a good place at the moment. After the break, the performances have been really good, and in return the results have been good. Obviously, we’ve taken a small bit of a dip from the last game, but they’ve trained ever so well this week. There is a hunger in our group. It will be a tough game, no doubt, as it always is up there. But I think it will come down to what we do; like in all games, we decide what we do. It took a mistake for us for Treaty to win the game; if we don’t do that, we win the game and probably win it comfortably. And now going forward, it’s what we want to do. It’s a great group, the boys are hungry and have a great attitude, and what we do on the night will decide if we get the 3 points or not.”