The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Ladies beat Mayo ahead of Wexford trip
LIDL LADIES NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2 Wexford v Kerry Sunday, February 2 Enniscorthy at 2pm
A SIX-HOUR bus journey back to Kerry from Cavan is never the most appealing adventure to go on, but the Kingdom ladies did so with their spirits high after their one point victory over the hosts last Sunday.
A victory away from home is always welcome, and the manner in which Kerry gained the spoils made it even more satisfying, although joint manager Declan Quill conceded that his side had almost let it slip near the end.
“The journey home would have been an awful slog even if it was a draw. We would have been kicking ourselves if we had left it slip. We were seven points up, but Niamh Carmody got sin binned and they got a run on us and we couldn’t get a score to keep them at bay.
“They got a soft goal near the end, but straight afterwards Miriam [O’Keeffe] won a great free near the finish and that killed their momentum.”
Kerry have it all to do once more when they travel to Enniscorthy to play Wexford next Sunday, even though they will travel as the hottest of favourites. The Model county suffered a 29-point beating at the hands of Monaghan in the first round and are clear candidates to get relegated this season.
Former Kerry star Bernie Breen didn’t play in that defeat and is also unavailable for the side next Sunday. Although Breen is in the veteran stage of her career, she will be a massive loss for her adopted county and it is unclear whether she will continue to play with them for the rest of the league.
On the other hand Wexford manager Paul Carty will be happy with the performances of Niamh Butler and Aisling Murphy in the defeat to Monaghan, and a much improved second half performance overall. With limited resources, the loss of a number of players from last years panel has been detrimental to them, and they lack quality in their side.
Kerry will go into the Wexford game with a clean bill of health. They will be without midfielder Megan O’Connell, who is unavailable for the game, and there are doubts about the availability of Eilis O’Leary due to work commitments. Declan Quill conceded that they would be big losses to his side, but said that there are other players that can step up and do a job.
“Megan and Eilis were brilliant against Cavan and will be losses for the Wexford game, there is no doubt about that. Megan is very fit and strong and put in a massive shift at midfield, whilst Eilis kicked two super points from the half forward line.
“As well as that, college training is fairly hectic at the moment for a lot of the girls so we will see on Wednesday night if any of those players are carrying niggles. We will have to make a couple of changes to the team and the panel anyway.
“We have 36 in training and we must give those girls games to keep them interested and try them out and see what they are like. Everyone deserves a fair shot at it before we get a settled team.”
Whilst the Kerry management will take nothing for granted, the there is no doubt that they will be too strong for Wexford next Sunday. The Kingdom will go into the game in ebullient form on the back of the morale boosting victory over Cavan and with the competition on the panel at an all time high, players will be chomping at the bit to make an impression once more.
The game will also offer Quill and Long the opportunity to blood new players in their quest to establish a settled panel. Kerry will come away from Enniscorthy with a comfortable victory.