Kerry FC 2023

After a very good first half, against the run of play Bray took the lead at the end of the first half and got a second early in the second. Kerry responded well with Leo Gaxha scoring the first goal for the club, but Bray got a third shortly after and were comfortable until the final whistle. A much more balanced performance with long periods on top and a big step forward from the first game.

Next game is Friday night as Treaty United make the trip to Tralee from Limerick. Despite more tickets being made available on the sidelines, its another sell out and represents the best chance to get something from the game so far this year. It's available online through the League of Ireland pass

Fair play, was there many in the away section?

Kerry FC 1 - 1 Treaty United

The improving team welcomed Treaty united last Friday and carried the momentum into the game. On top for much of the first half, Treaty were under pressure particularly out wide, with Kerry's full backs pushing up. Leo Gaxha again showed his class cutting a ball into the box for Sean Kennedy to score after ten minutes. After the goal, the game opened up with chances at both ends but Treaty would get the equaliser halfway through the first half. The second half would be more of the same in an open game with keeper Wayne Guthrie making some important saves to keep Kerry in it. After a silly second yellow for Andy Quaid, Kerry would hang on to claim their first point of the campaign.

Next up are league leaders Galway United away on Friday night which is likely to be a very tough test.

The club shop is also open on Thursday evenings 6-8 in the hall in Mounthawk park

Wexford FC 2 - 1 Kerry FC

Last friday saw the team respond well following the defeat to Galway a week earlier. Going down one nil early and struggling through the majority of the first half, Kerry started the second half well on top. A clear handball in the box was waived away by the referee and with lots of changes from both sides, the game became a frantic with Wexford unable to keep possession for any length of time. Another fortunate break for Wexford saw a deflected shot extend their lead but Kerry responded well. A great cross from Ryan Kelleher into the box saw Leo Gaxha header home brilliantly with only a a couple of minutes left.

A good response from a team who are still developing. Rob Vasiu got his first game and made a great impact off the bench, on the verge of half time, has played for Kerry at U15, U17 and U19 level, so the future is bright.

This Friday, Kerry host Athlone town who many consider to be the best opportunity to get the first win of the season. There is a handful of tickets left over on https://kerryfc.com/tickets/

Longford Town 2 - 0 Kerry FC

Kerry were caught out after ten minutes with a ball in behind drawing two defenders which left the Longford striker one on one with Shane Guthrie and he powered home. Longford couldn't stretch their lead as Kerry got a foot hold in midfield but struggled to create anything meaningful in the final third. The second half saw manager Billy Dennehy make three changes and the impact was almost immediate with the fresh legs taking over in midfield. Kerry kept the pressure up with a good few chances and kept pushing forward for the equaliser, unfortunately this left us open at the back and in the last minute Longford got the goal to put the game to bed.

Last week saw the debut of young Kennedy Amechi who played underage with both Cork and Limerick. The average age of the squad that finished the game 21.5 and I'd say the youngest in the division by some margin. There is still plenty of time for the squad to settle and things will improve and, outside of the Galway game, not much between Kerry and most of these teams.

Next up is Finn Harps in Mounthawk on Friday at 7.45 and there are a handful of tickets left at https://kerryfc.com/tickets/

Tough going so far, but I don't think many expected any different. The late approval of the license didn't afford them much time to put a squad together.

Waterford 1 - 0 Kerry FC

With the odds ranging from 33/1 to 40/1, Kerry were very much the underdog for the trip down to Waterford. There has been times this season where we would have been lucky to get a draw and ended up losing, but this was not one of those times. The team were set up to sit back and defend and try to catch Waterford on the break and without some unbelievable saves from Wayne Guthrie in goals, Waterford should have gone in two up at half time. Overall Kerry defended well but poor finishing and decision making by the Waterford front men meant we were still in with a shout. Waterford took the lead with 20 to go, when a clear body check on Jonathan Hanafin was missed by the referee leaving Ronan Coughlan a free header. After this, we grew into the game a little more but couldn't create anything meaningful outside of some long range efforts.

Although the ref missing the foul for the goal was awful, it's hard to argue with the result, given Waterford's dominance and after 10 goals in their last two, most journalists had them picked to win by 3 or 4. Quarter of the season gone now, but Kerry are still very much in touch with the bottom half of the table with plenty to play for.

Next Friday night, unbeaten runaway league leaders Galway come to town fresh off a huge win against Bray. Tickets are on sale at https://kerryfc.com/tickets/

1200 and every game bar the one tonight has sold out

Edit: This is now sold out

I think the average attendance in the division was only 500 pre-covid and its pushing 1250 now. The changes to within the FAI have certainly done it no harm and it's been really great to see local businesses of all sizes supporting the team too.

It's definitely worth going along, even if you are just curious. It's a good friendly atmosphere there and it's well organised (bar exiting afterwards).

Treaty 4 - 0 Kerry FC

Whatever momentum the team had off the back of two credible performances was firmly put to a halt last night. Limerick went one up after ten minutes when a ball over the top was played back inside past three Kerry defenders with the midfielder putting through the Treaty striker to slot home. Kerry were awarded a penalty after 25 minutes but a tame effort was easily saved. Treaty were two up five minutes later after the ball bounced around the box and fell to their striker to tap in. As Kerry began to grow into it, Treaty put any question of the result to bed before half time with a third. Treaty added a fourth with 20 left from a corner and the scoreline doesn't flatter the home team's performance.

Good to see the Treaty goal keeper and steward behind the goal care more about the players welfare than the officials, as they signaled to the referee to stop play while Leo Gaxha appeared unconscious in the build up to Treaty's fourth goal.

There are no positives from last night and another tough away trip on Monday against Cobh Ramblers. Tickets are on sale for Monday's Cobh game and next Friday's home game against Longford town over on https://kerryfc.com/tickets/

Cobh and Treaty have definitely improved since the first time we played them and from the looks of the results this weekend, Wexford and Longford have improved too so I don't think we are going to be as competitive as we looked earlier in the year. The issue in the last few games is we haven't given ourselves any chance of getting something, between individual mistakes and not properly defending corners we are fighting uphill battles all the time.

Having seen the majority of the squad come through the U17s and U19s I don't think there is many better options on the bench. It might be a few years too soon for a few and there's no doubt it's a hard league to learn on the job. Andy Quaid and Jonathan Hannafin should both be back fit in the next week or so and that should give Billy much needed physicality in the side.

Kerry FC 2 - 3 Longford Town

A changed Kerry line up saw a debut for 18 year old Togor Silong and Andy Quaid and Sean O'Connell returning to the squad. Again Kerry were caught out after 8 minutes a ball pulled back from the end line found its way to the Longford striker. Throughout the first half, the team lacked any sort of cohesion and shape with Trip playing wide but unable to find any passes inside, and chances were few and far between at both ends. On the verge of half time, a corner found the Kerry defence asleep from a routine play and Longford took a two goal lead to the half.

Three changes at half time saw Matt Keane, Leo Gaxha and Nathan Gleeson on and the impact was immediate with Kerry looking the more dangerous side. Togor won a tackle around midfield and Gleeson carried the ball forward and shot on goal, the keeper could only parry it to Sean McGrath to tap in for one back. 8 minutes later Longford extended their lead against the run of play, with a misplaced header from Keane ending up looping over the keeper into his own net. Kerry dug deep and Ryan Kelleher got one back after Leo Gaxha crossed a ball in from a counter attack but Longford were able to cling on to their lead until the final whistle.

Hopefully we can build on this second half and next up is Athlone town away next Friday at 7.45

Must be injured if he didn't make the bench.

Unrelated but a big statement from Billy Dennehy after the game

Athlone 2 - 3 Kerry FC

Another shake up in the starting line up saw Nathan Gleeson and Aaron O' Sullivan make his debut in goals. From the get go, Kerry were on the back foot with a ball off the line cleared with 5 minutes gone and another sure goal hitting off the Athlone striker before it could make it's way in. With 15 gone, Silong won the ball in midfield, Ryan Kelleher took the ball down and pinged it into the far corner with our best goal of the season so far. Five minutes later Nathan Gleeson doubled the lead with a strike from outside the box looping over the keeper off a deflection. One way traffic resumed with Athlone getting one back ten minutes before the break.

Following more one way traffic after the break Athlone leveled it up with 20 to go but thanks to an absolutely brilliant (and correct) call by the linesman, Ryan Kellher put Kerry back in front. Some superb defending and a fair share of good fortune and Kerry FC now have their first win of the season.

Superb performance by Aaron O' Sullivan in his first game and now that monkey is off our back, we can look at building on it for the rest of the season.

Kerry FC 0 - 2 Bray Wanderers

An unchanged side from the team that beat Athlone last week, it took 10 or 15 minutes for Kerry to get a foothold in the game. Kevin Williams again lead by example with some great defending and Sean McGrath looking the most lively of the attacking players. Although neither team threatened the goals much, Kerry edged the first half, with the best opportunities being caught offside a few times which would have saw Kelleher and Gaxha through on goal. Kerry had a few half chances from corners at the end of the first half but couldn't get anything clean on target.

Bray took the lead with 5 minutes gone in the first half and began to slow the pace of the game. There was a reasonable claim for a penalty when Nathan Gleeson was climbed on in the box which had the Kerry bench incensed. Down the other end, Bray were awarded a penalty when the ball struck Kellehers arm. Kerry kept pushing towards the end but ultimately couldn't trouble the Bray keeper.

Some small mistakes aside, its good to see the progress being made both defending and attacking set pieces and there is much more control to the play too. Next up is Wexford in Mounthawk and tickets should be on sale on Monday