3 minute read
Kelliher double fires Kerry to historic win
Ryan Kelliher, the brilliant young striker from Lissivigeen, heralded the breakthrough that Kerry FC needed when he struck for two goals in their away game against Athlone Town on Friday last.
This win earned the fledgling Kerry side their first win since they entered the LOI First Division at the start of this year. Kelliher seems to have a penchant for goals and he is striking up a great understanding with Leo Gaxha in particular. When Kerry FC and Athlone Town last met Kerry were unlucky to lose that one, conceding a goal in the 86th minute. Seeing them in action at Mounthawk Park against Longford Town, I was impressed by their second-half fightback after poor concession of earlier goals. They still lost narrowly, but showed what they are capable of.
They got it right in Athlone. Ryan Kelliher controlled the play with his first touch and bang - goal number one. They could have been hauled back but Aaron O’Sullivan the 19-year-old Kerry FC keeper was magnificent on his debut.
Nathan Gleason put Kerry 2-0 clear and now they were in command, but they got a sharp reminder before half-time when Athlone pulled one back. The hosts kept up the momentum in the second half and eventually it was all square at 2-2. Now for the decider. The run of play was with the home side. Gaxha did the initial work and from close in Ryan Kelliher scored, although Athlone and, indeed, the referee thought the ball had been cleared off the line. Fortunately for Kerry FC, the linesman on the far side was well positioned to make the correct call. It made for a tense finish with 4 minutes added on, but Kerry held firm to claim a 3-2 win. The road home to Kerry was joyful.
Now they can expect a full house at Mounthawk Park tonight at 7.45 pm to lift the side to what one hopes will be a first win at home. Bray Wanderers will test their mettle.
Full-time score: Kerry FC 3 Athlone Town 2. It makes for nice reading and what’s more it was an away game. Team boss Billy Dennehy - a seasoned campaigner from his own playing days with so many teams - said it would not be easy to make the breakthrough, but one didn’t expect that Kerry FC would have to wait until their 14th game to win and gain that elusive three points. The next challenge is to do that in front of the home fans, who have longed for a positive result at Mounthawk Park. They need to do that and keep the attendances buoyant.
They now go into a busy schedule running right into the June Bank Holiday. They will face Bray Wanderers (May 19), Wexford (May 26), Finn Harps (June 2), Waterford (June 5) and Athlone Town (June 9). All games have a 7.45 pm kickoff.
These five games in a short timespan are crucial to their hopes of adding more points.
KERRY FC: Aaron O’Sullivan, Rob Vasiu, Samuel Aladesanusi, Kevin Williams, Ronan Teahan, Nathan Gleeson (Goal ’22), Cian Barrett, Togor Silong, Leo Gaxha, Ryan Kelliher (Goal ’15, ’70), Seán McGrath. Subs: Richie Healy, Stephen McCarthy, Matt Keane, Alex Ainscough, Cianan Cooney, Graham O’Reilly, Kennedy Amechi.
It was a very disappointing end of season for the Kerry hurlers who lost their last two games to Offaly and to Laois, thus killing off any hopes of getting their hands on the Joe McDonagh Cup.
This trophy has eluded them in recent times despite three final appearances. One hoped that this year they would come good but they were well beaten away to Offaly, which left them needing a victory over Laois in Tralee on Sunday last. Carlow would have to lose to Offaly if Kerry were to advance. All told, that scenario failed to materialise. Offaly had already qualified for the final so they fielded a weakened team for the Carlow match. Carlow were running up a big score and that news was filtering through to Tralee just as Laois were inflicting a big defeat on Kerry. Will this be the end of Stephen Molumphy’s reign in charge of Kerry? Defeats are usually blamed on managers, but I believe he has done a fine job. It is no piece of cake to manage a GAA team in Kerry, especially the hurlers who are always in the shadow of the footballers.
Molumphy was a fine player during his nine seasons with Waterford, usually playing at midfield. I would say that the job is still his if he wishes to continue and I don’t see too many others wanting to sip the contents of this chalice.
We may have seen the last of Mikey Boyle in the Kerry geansaí, though. He has been an outstanding hurler and indeed that extended Boyle family have been great competitors in several sports. It continues now with Evan captaining the Kerry minor football team. They were due to play their Munster semi-final last evening. I expect they won, but they have disappointed so far. Team manager Wayne Quillinan, taking