Kerry DL v Cork Aul , Oscar Traynor Preview

By Tommy Naughton

As always when two neighbouring counties meet it is something that every one looks forward too and even more when the two sides are Kerry and Cork . Kerry picked up a very valuable point away against the Limerick District League in the opening game in a one all draw . A report from this game can be viewed HERE .Cork won their opening game at home against the Desmond League on a two nil score line and now sit top of the group . John o Regan’s Kerry side know if they get any kind of a result here they will still be in with a great chance of qualifying into the knock out stages as they have the Desmond League at home in their final game .

The only definite change to the Kerry side that played in Limerick will see the exclusion of keeper Kevin Moran who is out with a back injury and is likely to be replaced by David Hennessey who score the late equaliser in the opening game in Limerick . Kerry’s Assistant manager Tadgh Healy told me , “We travelled to Limerick with a depleted squad and came home with a good point on the table. We now have a home fixture against Cork Aul and as we all know in any sport when Kerry v Cork there’s no quarter given. The one bit of bad news this week is that our keeper Kevin Moran will be out of action for five or six weeks with a back injury. We have added to the squad and all the players have come through training injury free. Our final training session will be Friday night and fingers crossed that everyone gets through without picking up any knocks, We have a good balance to the squad with a mix of experience players like David Study Hennessy, Shane Guthrie,Stephen Conway, Con Barrett and when you add the young guns to the mix like Ryan Downey, Sean Brosnan, Fergal Maunsell and Brian Murphy and that’s just a sample from a very strong squad the future looks bright for Kerry soccer.

Barry Peelo from the Cork Aul had this to say earlier this week to me about the game ” The Cork AUL have been training hard and are well up for it. It will be a very tough task for the Cork lads as Kerry are a good side and have always been strong at home again any side. They produced an excellent result when they drew 1-1 with the Limerick league and as you probably know, this league is very, very strong in Junior Football. But, Cork had a great 2-0 result against the Desmond League at Turner’s Cross a few weeks back despite not playing up to the standard they are accustomed to and there is no doubt but, they will need to up their performance against Kerry in their own back yard. A win for Cork against the Kingdom would seal their passage through to the next stages but, like I said, it will be a very tough ask.

Last season these two counties played out a very entertaining one one draw , a report from this game can be viewed HERE . Hopefully a large crowd come out on Sunday and support a County team like they should be supported especially against our fierce rivals who always bring a large number of supporters to Tralee with them . Kerry are joint second in the group at preened and the top two will qualify to the knock out stages .