VIDEO/PHOTOS: Home Are The Kennedy Cup Heroes

Posted by
Pitch and Putt insert

.

Kennedy Soccer 3

A delighted David Dineen (right) with the Kennedy Cup arriving in Denny Street. Photo by Dermot Crean

THE Kerry Under 14 soccer team received a great welcome home to Tralee last night after their Kennedy Cup heroics.

Despite the driving rain, friends and families of the youngsters gathered in Denny Street to welcome the lads after they beat Dublin and District Schoolboy League (DDSL) 1-0 in the final in Limerick yesterday, to claim the title for the first time since the competition began in 1976.

Considering the opposition were the superstars of the competition, winning it 30 times, it was some achievement.

Continued below…

Kerry ETB Insert

The Kerry team played six games with 13 goals scored and one conceded during the week so the 21 player squad – with players drawn from clubs all over the county – deserve a lot of credit for this feat, in a competition where the 32 schoolboy leagues in Ireland take part.

The team arrived in Denny Street at about 8.20pm on Friday night and the organisers of Féile na mBláth kindly let them use the marquee for a reception due to the weather conditions.

Chairman of the Kerry Schoolboys Girls Leagues, Martin Conway congratulated the young lads on their achievement.

“I covered every blade of grass on the field with ye. You’re a fantastic bunch of lads, you were exceptional. The support we had up there was unbelievable – of course we had the other 30 leagues cheering for Kerry as well,” he said.

Brendan Hogan, manager of the team, also spoke about the achievement and congratulated the squad.

“They went to Limerick as boys and they came back as men. They’re a credit to their families. I knew on Tuesday night that this team could get to the final. Little did I know that they would actually win it. This group of players didn’t go just to represent Kerry, or for a few games of soccer in the sunshine, this group went to win the Kennedy Cup and they were going to accept nothing else and fair play to all of them,” he said.

A marvellous achievement. Ciarraí Abú!

Scroll down for a (very) short video and some photos…

Kennedy Soccer 4

The winning Kerry Kennedy Cup squad and mentors on stage at a reception in the Town Park on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean

Kennedy Soccer 2

The Kerry Kennedy Cup winning team arriving in Denny Street on Friday night. Photo by Dermot Crean

Comments are closed.

image