SSE Airtricity U17 League; Kerry 3-1 Mervue United
SSE Airtricity U17 League
Friday 19th August 2016
Kerry 3-1 Mervue United
Report and Pictures by Tommy Naughton. Images Copyright to KDL ,No usage without permission by any other website, Facebook or Twitter Pages .
Kerry picked up their 3rd win of the season on Friday night in Mounthawk Park against Mervue United. Kerry will be delighted with not just the result but also the performance in terrible conditions with a gale force wind driving through the field and constant rain through out the 90 minutes.
Mervue United who arrived late to the ground started the quickest and had two early chances with the first easily saved by Brian Lonergan before the second hit the side netting. Kevin Williams was introduced by Kerry after fifteen minutes to replace the injured Thomas Burke .Just on the half hour mark Kerry took the lead when a Karl O’Sullivan Corner was powerfully headed to the back of the net by Kevin Williams . Kerry kept this lead to the break but mainly thanks to a fantastic tackle from Sean Carmody to deny Wilson Waweru who was just about to shoot from just out side the six yard box with only the keeper to beat.
While the first half saw Mervue with the larger share of possession the second half saw Kerry take full control of proceedings and really should have secured the win earlier in the tie. Kerry nearly doubled their lead on numerous occasions after playing their way through the Mervue defence but the final effort was always missing the target without working the Mervue Keeper Cian Mulryan .
With only 9 minutes left in the game and against the run of play Mervue equalised when Elias Kunz forced the ball over the line in a crowded goal mouth . Straight from the restart Kerry where back in front when a long ball over the top forced the Mervue keeper to come out of the box to clear but his clearance fell to Dylan O’Sullivan who made no mistake from 35 yards out floating the ball into the unguarded net .
The final few minutes saw Mervue throwing everything at Kerry but again the show how far they have come this season and in the final minute they secured the win when Karl O’Sullivan made no mistake when he found himself just twelve yards out with only the keeper to beat .
Everyone from the Kerry District League would like to wish Thomas Burke a speedy recovery from an injury sustained early in the first half.
Kerry: Brian Lonergan, Gearoid Dillane, David O’Connor, Eoin Clifford, Sean Carmody, Darren Loughnane, Thomas Burke, Michael O’Gara, Sheagh O’Connor, Thando Dube, Karl O’Sullivan. Subs ; Kevin Williams for Thomas Burke 16 mins, Dylan O’Sullivan for Sheagh O’Connor 60 mins, Ben Cooney for Michael O’Gara 84 mins .
Mervue United: Cian Mulryan, Ronan Asgari, Calym Crowe, Conor Higgins, Adam Rooney, Eoin Broderick, Joshua Quinlavan, Tommy Molloy, Wilson Waweru, Ronan Manning, Liam White. Subs; Elias Kunz for Liam White 45 mins, Fraser Allen for Ronan Asgari 60 mins, Harry Rodgers for Calym Crowe 83 mins.
Officials ;
Referee , Owen Moynihan
Assistants , Adrian Quirke and Anthony Morrison .