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By Ivan Hurley
A HECTIC weekend of action has Kerry FC on the road tomorrow afternoon as the squad make the journey to Bishopsgate to take on Longford Town with kick-off at the earlier time of 5pm.
The last meeting of the sides will live long in the Kerry FC fans’ minds as a first home league win against the Midlanders on Matchday 9.
Goals from Sean McGrath, Ryan Kelliher and Kennedy Amechi sent the home support wild in Mounthawk Park as the fans were treated to a thrilling night in Tralee.
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That game came in the middle of a run of eight games unbeaten in all competitions, writing new chapters into the Kingdom’s history books as the club’s second season continues.
But, somewhat disappointingly, the unbeaten run has come to an abrupt end, with three defeats in the last three for Conor McCarthy’s charges.
Home defeats against Athlone Town and Cork City while a defeat on the road in Bray have halted momentum, the kingdom will look to bounce back in Bishopsgate tomorrow night.
Longford Town meanwhile remain bottom of the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division, one place below Kerry with a game in hand.
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A shift in management in recent weeks as well in Bishopsgate will mean we are likely to see a different Longford side that were beaten in Mounthawk Park just a few weeks ago.
Longford are also beaten in their last three games so two teams well out of form could prove to be one not to miss.
The last time Kerry met Longford ended in a historic occasion for the club, with Kerry securing their first home win in the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division
With the quick turnaround from the Cork City game, a couple of players will have to be assessed before making the trip to Bishopsgate.
Kerry, who had a full bill of health for the visit of Cork to Mounthawk Park on Friday were forced into two changes before the 50-minute mark. Andy Spain limped off in the first half while Ronan Teahan also had to make an early exit just 5 minutes into the second half.
Speaking after Friday night’s game against Cork City, Conor McCarthy said; “The players will be off tomorrow (Saturday), plenty of their own recovery work to do.
Sunday morning we will assess, do a bit of work ahead of the Longford game. Look it’s a very short turnaround so training won’t be anything major but more for us to have an active recovery session and manage bodies.
We need to be 100% going up there, that’s why we have a squad of players here. So the boys who come in need to keep the standard and level up.”
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