Ivan Hurley previews tonight’s Airtricity League Of Ireland Division 1 game at UCD Bowl…
Ivan Hurley previews tonight’s Airtricity League Of Ireland Division 1 game at UCD Bowl…WITH the season turned past the midway point, this trip up the M7 marks Kerry’s final trip to the capital in the league in 2026 with the final visit to the UCD Bowl tonight.
The Kingdom came back from the break with a fantastic performance against Athlone Town in Mounthawk Park. Ryan Perez netted his first senior goal for the Kingdom in a 1-0 victory in Tralee.
Matt Connor put in yet another top performance between the sticks, making upwards on 7 stunning saves and to be honest, must feel aggrieved to have missed out on a place on the league’s team of the week selection.
Continued below…
That win marked a 6th game unbeaten for Colin Healy’s side in Mounthawk Park, dating back to early April.
But it’s the away form that needs to be resolved, and it’s been a disappointing season so far for the travelling support.
With Kerry 6 points off the play-off places, an upturn in fortunes away from the Kingdom could be the key to success for Kerry FC in this second half of the season.
But Kerry have a big task on their hands heading to the Bowl tonight. UCD are in good form, and a 0-5 reversal away to Finn Harps last Friday night will have given the students a good pep in their step.
UCD have been beaten just twice at home this season, including a narrow 2-1 win over Kerry FC on the opening night of the 2026 season last February.
Having lost 3 in a row, UCD have bitten back with two wins, scoring 6 goals in the last 2 games and will look to tomorrow night as another stepping stone to potentially close the gap on Cork City and, if not, get even closer to guaranteeing themselves a tilt at the play-offs come the end of October.
Kerry will take confidence from the win here last year and with Daniel Okwute back available, the Killarney man has netted twice in the Bowl in previous trips to south Dublin.
UCD and Kerry FC have only ever shared two players between them since the Kingdom’s introduction to the League of Ireland. That being Ethan Kos in 2024 and Alex Dunne in 2025
Colin Healy has a number of injury concerns to contend with ahead of Friday night’s game in the capital.
Ryan Kelliher needs a further scan on his knee injury while Kieran Cooney, Finn Barrett, Arran Healy and Kilian Cantwell remain absent. Harry Halwax has returned to on field training over the past couple of weeks.
Colin Healy said: “I’m hoping that the home form can be a spark to improving the away results, we need to be better as a group. As a football club, we want to start climbing the table and getting into those play-off places. I think we have 5 away games in this round, so it’s really important we start putting points on the board, especially in our away games as well.”
