Athletic fancied to complete their double

GREYHOUND BAR CUP FINAL Killarney Athletic v Mitchels Avenue Sunday July 23 Mounthawk Park, 4pm

THE blue ribbon trophy of Kerry cup soccer is down for decision at Mounthawk Park next Sunday with Division 1A side Mitchels Avenue facing Killarney Athletic in the Greyhound Bar Cup Final.

Killarney Athletic who are bidding for a league and cup double will go into the game as warm favourites and not surprisingly as they have been a revelation in Premier A this season coming out of the blue to claim the title against arch rivals Killarney Celtic.

They have been very impressive in their path to the final beating Killarney Celtic in the quarter final while they got past Castleisland in the semi-final after a replay.

Mitchels Avenue have also been very impressive in the competition to date and despite losing to Tralee Celtic in the Division 1A final they came back two weeks later and beat them in the semi final of the Greyhound Bar Cup.

However, they have big injury problems going into the game as their top striker Brendan Coffey is doubtful with a hamstring injury, Sean O’Reilly has an ankle injury Peter Murphy is also injured while their star midfielder Lorcan Seymour will be away on holidays.

Mitchels Avenue will go into the game as outsiders, but that won’t bother them as they have a very good record in cup competitions and will have no fear of their more illustrious opponents.

Their team has a different shape in recent times as their usual goalkeeper Chris Hegarty sustained a shoulder injury which ruled him out for a long time. Consequently David Hennessy who had been playing at centre half had to go back between the posts, but that is nothing new to him as he is an excellent custodian.

Avenue are on course for a possible cup treble as they are also in the final of the Tommy Healy Cup and are also in the semi-final of the Dominos Pizza Cup. Of course, all these extra games carried extra risk of injuries and Mitchels Avenue are now beginning to pay the price.

Luckily they also have a B team so they will be able to use players from that squad if key players are out.

While Mitchels Avenue have a scarcity of players due to injuries Killarney Athletic boss Stuart Templeman is spoiled for choice and he will have some big decisions to make on his lineout for the final as there is huge competition for places on the team.

While the odds are against them Mitchels Avenue are a side that has great self belief passion and pride and wont go down without a fight.

However, it will be a major surprise if Athletic don’t bring off the double on Sunday.