Tralee to host Kerry v Dublin League encounter in March

THE boys are back in town... Dublin’s senior footballers will visit Tralee for a competitive league game this March for the first time in many years.

The All-Ireland champions will play in the newly revamped Austin Stack Park and the March 18 crunch date is sure to make it a bumper St Patrick’s Weekend for Tralee.

The game is scheduled for a 7pm throwin which will add a blast of extra heat to what is sure to be a full-bodied contest in the crisp spring air.

In recent years Killarney has hosted the Dubs whenever the navy and blue army ventures south and so the news is a massive boost for Tralee’s businesses, with hotels, guest houses, bars and shops set to benefit as Dublin supporters tend to make a few days of their trip to Kerry.

Meanwhile, an added bonus for Austin Stack Park will be the visit of Mayo on February 11 which is also being played under lights.

KERRY and Dublin’s senior footballers will renew rivalries on March 18 when the Kingdom host the reigning National League champions under floodlights in Tralee.

The visit of the League and All-Ireland champions will be the second of two NFL matches hosted under lights at Austin Stack Park this year, a welcome boost for the county town from a sporting and commercial sense. The visit of Mayo on February 11 will be Kerry’s first home game of the 2017 National League, following a trip to Letterkenny to play Donegal on February 5.

Kerry’s footballers have four home League games in 2017 with Fitzgerald Stadium hosting Monaghan on Sunday, February 26 and the Round 7 match against Tyrone on April 2.

Kerry travel to Roscommon on March 5 and Cavan on March 26, both Sunday afternoon matches.

Meanwhile, the Kerry hurlers get their Division 1B campaign underway with the visit of Laois on Sunday, February 12, with further home matches against Galway and Offaly on March 12 and 26.