Matchday 8 Preview – UCD AFC v Kerry FC
Kerry FC face the trip to UCD AFC tomorrow on Matchday 8 of the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division. With it being the Easter Bank Holiday Monday, the game kicks off at the earlier time of 5pm and with the clocks springing forward by an hour, we should be in for a nice bright evening in the capital.
Kerry come into this one on an impressive run of form, drawing our last 4 games in the League, 2 at home in Mounthawk Park and 2 on the road in Athlone on Finn Park. In fact, coupled in with a win in the Munster Senior Cup, you can make it 5 games in a row unbeaten for Conor McCarthy’s charges. You’d have to go back a full month to March 1st to find Kerry’s last defeat, that at home to Treaty United. An impressive draw in an emotion filled game in Mounthawk Park against a strong Wexford FC side is sure to give the kingdom another lift on confidence heading to Dublin. It’s easy to forget that Kerry were beaten 6-0 at home by the same opposition last term.
In terms of the students, things are starting to click in the UCD Bowl. The win on Friday night against basement side Longford Town was 3 in a row for UCD. They had an impressive run out last time in the Bowl, comfortably dispatching Athlone Town while a late goal in Turners Cross secured all 3 points against Cobh Ramblers in the game previous. But they have recorded 3 losses in the league to date, the same amount as Kerry, but they have seemed to turn a corner since then.
Matchday 8
Kerry FC v UCD AFC – Monday, April 1st – 5pm Kick Off – UCD Bowl, Dublin
Previous Meetings
N/A
Did you know?
This is the very first time that UCD AFC and Kerry FC meet. UCD AFC were relegated from the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division at the end of the 2023 season while Kerry are in their second year in the league. In fact, it will be the very first time that Kerry FC play a match in the capital. With no team from Dublin in the league in 2023 and the cup draws failing to find a Dublin/Kerry match up, this is the first time the kingdom will face a trip up the M7 to the capital.
Injury Update
It’s as you were from Friday night. Jack Kavanagh is out as he follows his return to play guidelines while Valerii Dolia remains absent along with Nathan Gleeson. The likes of Samuel Aladesanusi, Daire McCarthy and Ronan Teahan will all have to be assessed before the trip to Dublin tomorrow.
‘What they said’
James Sugrue – “We have watched a lot of UCD already, so we go with our game plan. We will have to assess after Friday night, we might have a couple of knocks so we will have to see how fellas are. Sunday we train again and we have to take it from there. I don’t see anyone who wasn’t around the squad on Friday being involved anyway. The games are coming fast and we are looking forward to it.
