Kerry FC 2023

cms88

Another result lost yesterday evening. Management have to take some of the blame as they were far too slow to make changes in the second half.

dobman88

Jesus fcking christ. Another 2-0 lead blown late in a game again. It's great that the overall performance is getting better and they're competitive but my god they have to learn how to see a game out quickly.

redseat1

First game last night. Initial thoughts...

The Greenway is a real novelty. I hope the club do all they can to promote it, get families and kids walking to games, maybe giving them a free ticket if they walk out 5 times etc. Weather last night was dodgy but I hope it's used by a lot of fans generally.

Nice ground, hadn't been there in years.

Nice atmosphere, well done to the singing section. Though ye HAVE to have a song based on the Rose of Tralee! Even if it's something simple like "that made me love Mary, from Kerry FC" over and over.

What a strip, must be one of the nicest I've ever seen. Don't change them next season. They're perfect.

I enjoyed the game. Drogs were physically on a different level, height, weight etc. And knew what they were about. Kerry looked a little raw and lightweight, to be expected from a new team in a lower league. But lots to admire. The No. 9 looks like he can handle himself well and give defenders a battle. It's very surprising that they have only 6 points, but as we all know that can quickly change, they will surely pick up a lot more next season.

Would I go again? Definitely.

bobdcow

to be honest I was expecting Kerry to be soundly beaten last night. Going there last night I didn't expect a 1-0 loss. A massive well done to the Kerry boys last night - they played very well and I'm sure the weather played its part in the goal - the ball being slippery, maybe on another dry night Lee would have held on to the ball. Since the first few games the improvements have been huge in the way they play and in their attitude. I'm really looking forward to their first home win in the league.

barryribs

Treaty 3 - 1 Kerry FC

A few changes from the cup game with Arthur Nganou starting in goals and Ethan Kos back in the first 11. Treaty took the lead after 20 minutes with Enda Curran beating Kos from an unchallenged cross. The sides were level 5 minutes later after the Treaty defender headed a Sean O' Connell cross into his own net.

Kerry dominated the early part of the second half and only a goal line clearance kept Treaty in the game. Treaty were able to pounce on a mistake at the back with Enda Curran to get his second of the game with 20 to go. The game was put to rest when a corner fell to a Treaty defender who slotted home with 5 minutes left.

Good performance again but being on top for long periods of the game and finding a way to lose is as frustrating as it is familiar. Treaty made a triple change at 60 minutes which disrupted the dominance early in the second half and the Kerry subs came too late off the bench again.

Next up is Bray at home on Friday and tickets are on kerryfc.com/tickets

cms88

Matt Keane has left. Bit of a surprise but at the same time it just didn't seem to work for him. Would have had a bit pressure on him as he was the first signing and was made captain.

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121029439#Comment_121029439

I don't know the ins and outs of it, but on the face of it, he's been treated awfully

dobman88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121031801#Comment_121031801

I've seen a few people say he's been treated awfully. In what way? Is it not just a case of him not being good enough or am I simplifying that too much?

cms88

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032328#Comment_121032328

He was disappointing at the start of the season to be fair. However away to Galway for example he was one of the best players on the field. It's odd seeing as he was one of the few who had experience at this level.

barryribs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032328#Comment_121032328

He was a massive part of the Treaty side that got them to the playoffs both times, so I don't think there can be any doubts about his ability. His style of play may not have been the best fit for Kerry, but that surely hasn't come as a surprise. I thought the comments after the Longford game at home directed at your club captain were very unusual and the article that came out later in the week was obviously pointing the finger at Keane.

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

Mazzy Star

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.

Mazzy Star

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.