Under 17s’ revival continues apace

SSE AIRTRICITY U-17 LEAGUE Kerry 4 Bray Wanderers 1

KERRY’S plight in the SSE Airtricity Under-17 League took a dramatic turn for the better at Mounthawk Park on Sunday after a very impressive win over Bray Wanderers.

When the sides met at the beginning of the season Kerry lost 5-1 to the Wicklow side and Sunday’s win shows how much they have improved since then. The big difference on Sunday was their two new signings from the Desmond League Karl O’Sullivan and Eoin Clifford who were outstanding.

However, having that said it was a magnificent all round team performance by Kerry whose work ethic was extraordinary blowing away the visitors with a riveting second half performance which was their best of the season by a mile.

Their tendency to concede early goals in matches went out the window in this game as they defended very tenaciously from the very outset and restricted the visitors to very few shots on goal.

Their tackling was strong and incisive, their midfield play was creative and had great pace while up front they were also carrying a major threat. It was a much changed team from the side that lost to Cork City the previous Sunday as they were without centre backs Conor Standen and David O’Connor, while Martin Coughlan and Blake Bolster is still out with an injuries.

It was a new centre-back partnership of Eoin Clifford and Sean Carmody and they done a superb job at the back well complimented by the great defending of Gearoid Dillan who got in some vital tackles during the game and Michael O’Gara, who also had an excellent game.

The other new signing Karl O’Sullivan was pulling the strings at midfield with Thando Dube, Sheagh O’Connor, Darren Loughnane, and Thomas Burke put in a tremendous shift while Dillon Robinson was always a threat up front.

Bray dominated the early possession but they did not utilise it that well as they were getting no leeway from the Kerry defence who were putting them under pressure all the time and not allowing them to settle on the ball. Gearoid Dillane made a couple of fantastic tackles early on to neutralise the threat of the Bray attackers.

The visitors forced an early corner but it was defended well by Kerry and they had to wait untill the 17th minute to create their first half decent chance but Kieran Butler shot wide.

However, they should have gone ahead in the 19th minute when Luke Barret Somers latched on to a David Gilshenan corner kick but his free header from 8 yards went over the top.

After this Kerry began to get their passing game together and were beginning to find holes in the Bray defence. They went ahead in the 37th minute with a nicely engineered goal.

Karl O’Sullivan and Thomas Burke done the spadework to create the opening for Dillon Robinson who cut in at and angle from the end line and caught out the Bray keeper on his near side and squeezed the ball in from a tight angle.

It took 39 minutes for Bray to get their first shot on target and it came from Cormac Kelly and it brought a fine save from Kerry goalie Brian Lonergan. Kerry had a chance just before the break but Karl O’Sullivan hit his effort on goal way too high.

Kerry were on the attack from the start of the second half and Sheagh O’Connor let fly with a pile-driver from 25 yards but it missed the target. Then in the space of a minute Kerry put this game to bed with two stunning goals.

The first came in the 55th minute after Dillon Robinson and Thomas Burke linked up to create some space for Thomas Burke and he turned on a sixpence and sent a screamer of a shot from 25 yards which flew into the roof of the net.

Sixty seconds later Bray were picking the ball out of the net again when Dillon Robinson played in Thando Dube and he showed great composure sizing up his options as the keeper advanced and he drilled his shot low to the bottom corner.

Bray went close to pulling one back in the 67th minute when a shot from sub Brandon Kavanagh clipped the crossbar. Kerry had a great chance to score again in the 71st minute when Sheagh O’Connor was through one on one with the Bray goalie, but the keeper smothered his shot.

Bray got what was little more than a consolation score in the 78th minute when sub Cormac Cummins found the net. Bray were reduced to 10 players near the end of the game when Luke Barrett Somers got a straight red card for an off the ball incident which was called by the linesman.

Kerry travel to play UCD next Sunday with a new spring in their step and will have gained huge confidence after Sunday’s tremendous performance. They face a very stern test against a formidable UCD side who are second in the table four points below table toppers Cork City.

However, they will be on a high after Sundays win and might sneak something from this game if they perform to their full potential and show the type of competitive aggression and appetite for the game they displayed against Bray Wanderers. KERRY: Brian Lonergan, Gearoid Dillane, Eoin Cliford, Sean Carmody, Michael O’Gara, Darren Loughnane, Karl O’Sullivan, Thando Dube, Sheagh O’Connor (Dylan O’Sullivan 79), Thomas Burke (Kevin Williams 72), Dillon Robinson BRAY WANDERERS: Jack Henry, Andy Lyons, Kieran Butler, Luke Sommers (Brandon Kavanagh 51), Jake Byrne, Cormac Kelly, Michael Gardiner (Evan White 51), Luke Devlin (Conor Cummins 51), Dylan Thornton, David Gilshenan, Luke Barret Somers REFEREE: Anthony Morrison

Footnote

WELL done to Georgie O’Callaghan of Castleisland who has been providing the ball boys every week for the SSE Airtricity U-17 games at Mounthawk Park. He brings them to the games in his mini bus and they are doing a great job.