U-17s claim another League win

SSE AIRTRICITY U17 LEAGUE

Kerry 3 Mervue United 1

KERRY collected three league points in impressive fashion at Mounthawk Park on Friday with a great win over Mervue United in appalling conditions with a strong wind and continuous rain.

When they met earlier in the year in Galway Mervue won 6-3 so this Kerry win shows how much the team has improved since then.

Both sides rose to the difficult climatic challenge admirably and provided a very entertaining game that produced some very good passages of football and a lot of creativity by both sides.

Mervue were on top in the first half with Kerry pinned back for most of it but they defended very well and restricted the visitors to very few scoring chances while they looked very dangerous on the counter-attack.

Ronan Manning and Wilson Waweru were a dangerous attacking duo for Mervue but they could not breach a rock solid Kerry defence where Sean Carmody and David O’Connor were outstanding.

A foul on Thando Dube in the 31st minute lead to a free kick for Kerry in the middle of the park and it produced a corner kick. This was delivered into the goalmouth by Karl O’Sullivan and when the ball broke loose among a forest of players sub Kevin Williams hooked it to the back of the net.

Kerry then hit Mervue on the break down the left wing where Karl O’Sullivan showed his exceptional turn of pace and his shot from just outside the box was only inches wide.

Mervue had a couple of half chances before the break but efforts from Joshua Quinlavan Keane and Liam White did not test goalkeeper Brian Lonergan.

At the start of the second half Kerry were in full flight with Darren Loughnane pulling the strings at midfield and Karl O’Sullivan a major threat up front.

Lonergan saved well from a deflected shot from Tommy Molloy from a Mervue corner, and then Kerry should have doubled their lead in the 73rd minute but Gearoid Dillane put his shot wide from less that 10 metres.

Then out of the blue came the sucker punch from Mervue when sub Elais Gunz bundled the ball over the line in a crowded goalmouth from a corner.

Straight after the kick off Kerry caught the Mervue defence flat-footed and with their goalkeeper off his line Dylan O’Sullivan made up for his earlier miss by chipping the keeper from 25 metres.

Kerry rubbed more salt in the Mervue’s wounds three minutes when Karl O’Sullivan ran on to the ball just inside the box and with defenders back-pedalling he fired low to the bottom corner from 15 metres to seal the game for Kerry.

Kerry have a home game again next weekend a Cabinteely side also struggling in the league so it is a game Kerry are capable of winning if they play up to scratch. When the sides met back in May, Cabinteely won 3-1 so Kerry will be anxious to avenge this defeat.

At present Cabinteely have 16 points from 17 games while Kerry have 9 points from 17 games.

The game is scheduled for 2pm on Sunday but it is most likely that it will be changed to avoid a clash with the All Ireland semi-final between Kerry and Dublin. KERRY: Brian Lonergan, Gearoid Dillane, Eoin Clifford, David O’Connor, Sean Carmody, Michael O’Gara (Ben Cooney, 87 mins), Darren Loughnane, Thando Dube, Thomas Burke (Kevin Williams, 15 mins), Sheagh O’Connor (Dylan O’Sullivan, 63 mins), Karl O’Sullivan. MERVUE UNITED: Cian Mulryan, Ronan Asgari (Frazer Allen, 66 mins), Calym Crowe (Henry Rogers, 85 mins), Conor Higgins, Adam Rooney, Eoin Broderick, Joshua Quinlavan Keane Tommy Molloy, Wilson Waweru, Ronan Manning, Liam White (Alias Kunz, 46 mins).

REFEREE: Eoin Moynihan

THOMAS Burke incurred an injury in the first half and was taken away by ambulance but the good news is that he did not suffer a leg fracture.

Kerry midfielder Darren Loughnane who played a hugely influential match for the Kerry U-17s against Mervue United