Kerry FC 2023

dobman88

@cms88 @barryribs

Fair points on both counts. Pity to see things end like that when the team just seem to be turning a corner with performances.

Back to Celtic for the upcoming KDL season I'd assume

cms88

Ryan Kelliher has signed a contract until 2025. Great to see him commit long term.

osarusan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121036102#Comment_121036102

Hopefully Matt will return to Limerick for next season. Not sure why it didn't work out for him as I don't keep up to speed with Kerry FC in enough detail, but he had good seasons with us.

barryribs

Kerry FC 1 - 3 Bray Wanderers

Four changes from the team last week, with Martin Coughlan in for Ronan Teahan, Jonathan Hannafin in for Alex Ainscough, Cian Barrett in for Samuel Aladesanusi and Daniel Okwute took the place of Ryan Kelleher, who looked to be injured in the warm up.

A shambles to start with, going behind after 9 seconds with a mix up at the back but Kerry responded well and Sean McGrath equalised from distance after a poor clearance by the Bray keeper. The first half remained tight but the game changed with two quick yellow cards for Cian Barrett.

Kerry were able to keep it tight at the back early in the second half but another disaster at the back saw two Bray players unmarked to head home for the lead. A third followed shortly after from a tight angled free-kick.

Longford at home next week

barryribs

Kerry FC 0 - 0 Longford Town

A few changes this week with Aladesenusi returning to the back and Ronan Teahan back in midfield, with Daniel Okwute joining Ryan Kelleher up front.

Kerry started the brighter side with Leo Gaxha testing the Longford keeper early but as Longford grew into it, the game became scrappy with the majority of it a midfield battle. The second half saw Longford on top for most of it but Kerry looked assured under crosses and corners and Axworthy was tested with a long ranged effort.

The subs from both sides injected more life into the game with Nathan Gleeson having an immediate impact and Kennedy Amechi, fresh off his goal of the month, providing a more direct and purposeful attack. Sadly Kerry couldn't find the score to break the deadlock with some chances for both teams to win it late, but its the first home clean sheet in the league.

On the way to the dressing room, a melee involving about 20 players and staff from both teams broke out, the circumstances of which will no doubt be investigated by the FAI.

Edit *This has now been reported to Gardai*

Next week is away to Athlone

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121087915#Comment_121087915

Any update on what was said?

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121095690#Comment_121095690

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/sport/soccer/kerry-fc-manager-condemns-unacceptable-comment-allegedly-made-as-melee-breaks-out-following-draw-with-longford-town/a721374820.html

barryribs

Longford town released a statement last night. They have conducted their own investigation despite still working with the authorities to establish the facts of the matter.

Longford Town FC is aware of an alleged incident at our recent game against Kerry FC at Mounthawk Park last Friday 8th September.

After conducting our own investigation and speaking with players and staff, Longford Town FC is extremely confident that the alleged incident did not occur and we are fully behind the individual in question.

We will work with the relevant authorities to establish the facts of the matter.

Longford Town FC condemns all types of discrimination and racism.

The club will be making no further comment at this time.

There has also been video posted of (one of) the Longford player(s) in question stamping and headbutting Kennedy

bobdcow

I saw the stamp and headbutt as it happened in front of me - kennedy simply turned to Longford player after he stamped on the back of his leg and the longford player just headbutted him. All credit to Kennedy, he didn't react when he could have decked him, or gone to ground. The referee didn't seem to bothered about it.

I don't want to be critical of referees as they have a tough job to do, but there should be some consequences for referees if the don't act in protecting the players. There are linesmen to help him - but maybe none of the officials saw it happen in real time.

cms88

Did something like this happen when Kerry played Longford earlier in the season? Od was that against someone else?

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121103533#Comment_121103533

That was against Athlone when the notorious domain name, Twitter handle and Greenway squatter from the Spa was posting racist abuse

dobman88

Not worth starting a thread for and unsure where else to put it but soccer fans in Kerry will know Brian Spillane, his reputation and the irony of him becoming a referee.

"Brian Spillane is a legend in the Killarney Celtic club winning a huge amount of accolades during his long spell as player and team manager with the club.

He retired as team manager last year and took a well-deserved break. He has moved into a much different side of the game this season as he takes a new role as a KDL referee.

He has all the credentials for the job and he was in charge of the game between Killorglin C and Classic FC at the weekend and handled it very competently according to the players from both sides.

The best quality referees often come from people who have played the game themselves and as Brian makes the new venture hopefully more former players will take up refereeing"

https://m.independent.ie/regionals/kerry/sport/soccer/former-hugely-successful-killarney-celtic-manager-brian-spillane-becomes-kerry-district-league-referee/a2039529473.html

cms88

Jonathan Hannafin is the latest player to depart the squad. Strange considering there's only a few games left in the season.

barryribs

Kerry FC 0 - 4 Galway United

This was always going to be a tough game but Kerry kept it tight for the first half, with the Galway keeper making a great one on on save from Leo on the verge of half time. Galway always looked like they were playing well within themselves and had another gear to move into and added to their lead with a penalty with 15 to go and the final scoreline was a closer reflection of the gap between the teams.

If nothing else, watching Galway celebrate with their 400 or so traveling fans should put give people some perspective on how difficult it is to compete in this league. In the 27 years since their last major trophy, Galway has merged with other clubs, dropped out of the league, been taken over by the fans and now finally seems to have sensible local ownership, with a top quality coaching and management team.

Next up is the long trip to Donegal to face manager-less Finn Harps

cms88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149658#Comment_121149658

Whatever about anything else i wouldn't use sensible as a word for their funding as it's mostly coming from one place.

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149741#Comment_121149741

The same crowd has been involved with the club for over 10 years, given more than 2 million in both sponsorship and funding, donated 40 acres of the old GAA site to the club for a training ground and heavily focused on the academy. All this when they could have front loaded the senior team to get back to the premier division.

As Kerry's debut campaign draws to an end I think its time for our end of season awards?

Barryribs is certainly Boards player of the season, channeling his inner Con Houlihan with some amazing match reports.

Keep up the good work my man.

amdaley28

Friday night was my first visit to Mounthawk Park for a LOI game.

I found the ground quite difficult to find & only for SatNav I would never have got there. I think Kerry need to look into proper road signage in order to help people to find the place. I'm sure Kerry Fc are aware of this ?

One I got there I found the volunteers in the car park & inside the ground were very helpful. I really felt welcomed there. Everyone was so friendly. Even had a lovely woman to show me to my seat in the stand. No shortage of food & hot drink stands available which is a great plus.

It's difficult to view the game properly in the ground with lots of restrictions to viewing. What the ground really needs is a decent main stand but I know that takes money. Maybe in time that will come as the club becomes more established. It's great to have a LOI club in Kerry & great credit to the people involved in Kerry Fc for the outstanding work they have done so far. There are many more established LOI clubs who could take a leaf from what Kerry have done at Mounthawk Park 👋

As to the game itself I don't think there was any doubt on who was going to win as Galway are a big physical side & difficult to defend against. However I don't think Kerry deserved to lose 4-0 as they gave as good as they got for most of the game given that they were largely physically outclassed. It was only in the last 15 minutes that Galway finally pulled away. I was impressed by a few of the Kerry lads who showed they were well capable of matching Galway as least skill wise.

Overall a very enjoyable visit to Kerry Fc.

Hope to come back there again soon.

Tony.

cms88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149784#Comment_121149784

My point is if they were to pull the plug where would they find the funding? I'm happy for their fan for sure but i would say no club has spent as much as them to win a First Division title.

While Kerry may not have the funding they seem to be going about it in a better way imo with having a lot of smaller sponsors rather than depending on one single place.

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121153291#Comment_121153291

They have probably as many sponsors as Kerry outside of the comer group and their model is a lot closer to Kerry's than other teams (in both divisions) with the focus being on coaching and the development of youth players. Their objective was not to win the first division, but to challenge in the premier and all the signs from their underage teams is that they are not far off challenging the 3 big teams in Dublin.

barryribs

Finn Harps 2 - 1 Kerry

I gave up on this at half time as the pixelot camera struggled to keep up with play. Shambolic again from Finn Harps

barryribs

Kerry FC 1 - 2 Wexford

Kerry were behind early after a great strike from Reece Webb at the edge of the box but they responded well. Ethan Kos played a ball from the back which was misjudged by the Wexford defender allowing Ryan Kelleher through on goal and after rounding the last man, he slotted home into the bottom corner. Kerry dealt well with the Wexford threat for the remainder of the first half and created some half chances of their own.

A bright start to the second half by both teams but Wexford looked the more dangerous of the two teams. They took the lead from a free kick into the box which found a Wexford head, amongst three Kerry defenders, and it was headed back into the centre where the unmarked Oluwya slid the ball into the net. Kerry continued to push but could not create anything meaningful from their own set pieces.

A frustrating loss, but Wexford had a few good chances from corners and free kicks prior to the winner and there was a sense of inevitability about it. The final home game of the season is next Saturday at 5.30 vs Waterford and tickets are on sale at https://kerryfc.com/tickets/

barryribs

Kerry FC 1 - 1 Waterford

The final homegame of the season with both teams having little to play for and the first half reflected that. Both teams struggled to test both goal keepers with the majority of play in the middle third of the pitch. A different story for the second half where Leo Gaxha chased down a wayward back pass that deflected off him and he was able to head into the open goal. This sprung the Waterford team to life, who were able to pass through the Kerry midfield and forced some great saves from Axworthy in the Kerry goal.

A triple change for Waterford on the 60th minute proved to be crucial with Ronan Coughlan equalising after the Kerry defence weren't switched onto a free kick, bringing his total to 31 goals from 27 games. Waterford pushed for the winner but Axworthy kept Kerry in it and with chances at both ends, the game finished with a credible point against a tough team.

The final game of the season is away to Cobh next Friday and there is a bus going from the Horan Centre at 4pm, and seats can be booked on O861O51737

barryribs

Cobh Ramblers 1-1 Kerry FC

Cobh made 9 changes from last week with the view firmly on the promotion play off next week and took the lead late in the first half from a shot at the edge of the box and the ball dribbled through a sea of legs and found it's way into the corner of the net. Kerry equalised late with another goal from Kennedy Amechi and came close to winning it in extra time. In truth, the conditions didn't lend themselves to the best game of football in the world but you would have never have thought that from the effort put in by the Kerry side.

Looking at the season as a whole, it's incredible to think that a new team cobbled together in a matter of weeks was able to compete with teams that have structures in place for a century, all while the squad transitions throughout the season. The average age of the team that started the first game was 24, tonight that was 21 and the oldest player starting the first game was 38, tonight it was 23. Only 3 of the starting 11 tonight started the first game of the season, such was the attrition and improvement in the team.

There has been some unbelievable individual performances, Gaxha taking the armband away to Longford and nearly single-handedly winning the game, Togor after coming home from school earlier in the day and putting an absolute reducer onto the Athlone midfielder firing up the home crowd, and Kelleher's brilliance in the win, spring to mind. It takes character and resilience every week to pull on the jersey, knowing that the odds are stacked against you, and for the vast majority of players, they gave absolutely everything, every single time they stepped out onto the field. And that's all a supporter can ask of the team, just to leave everything on the pitch and tonight captured the mentality of the supporters and the team perfectly.

So thats the end of the season and it's been enjoyable, frustrating, but most of all, it's been fun. It's been great to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones along the way.

bobdcow

Thank you Barryribs for all the posts and match reviews over the course of the season, it was great to read them, I made most of the home games and one away - it was very enjoyable to watch Kerry FC over the course of the season and my friends and I are looking forward to supporting the team again next year!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121271253#Comment_121271253

 The converse is true in my case, yet to make it to Mounthawk Park as my life is on the east coast now but made it to both the games in Bray.

Hoping for continued growth from the club in the year ahead.

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121271343#Comment_121271343

UCD to look forward to next year too!

Salvadoor

https://twitter.com/Jackatttt/status/1717296485337866375

McGregor rumours

bobdcow

It was on Radio Kerry that Billy Dennehy is to step back as manager for next season. He will stay on as Sporting Director. I know results weren't too good this year, but I was looking forward to Billy staying on and seeing what he could do with a years experience under his belt.

Any thoughts/rumors on who the next manager will be or is it too early to speculate?

dobman88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121380261#Comment_121380261

It was confirmed earlier that Killarney Celtic man, Conor McCarthy will be the new manager. He was on the coaching team last year so should be a seamless transition. I'd imagine Billy is moving to that role to have a say in the running jf the whole operation in Kerry, which is no bad thing imo.