The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
U-17s put five past Limerick
SSE AIRTRICITY U-17 LEAGUE
Kerry 5 Limerick FC 1 KERRY recorded their biggest win in the SSE Airtricity U-17 League before the biggest attendance of the season at Mounthawk Park on Sunday with a comprehensive victory over Limerick FC.
This was Kerry’s first win over the Shannonsiders having lost to them in the league twice and cup last season.
The first half of this game was relatively even but Kerry turned in a tremendous second half performance which simply blew away a disappointing Limerick side who threw in the towel long before the final whistle.
It was great to see 4 players from the Kerry side that won The Kennedy Cup for the first time 2 years ago starring in the game with Alex O’Connor taking over in goals from the injured Robert Osborne while his colleagues from that historic team Kevin Williams, James Rusk and Sebastian Vasiu playing a key role in Kerry’s win.
Kerry started on the front foot creating a few early chances but efforts from Dillon Robinson and Thomas Burke were wide of the target.
Bradley McNamara had a chance for Limerick but his low shot was at the wrong side of the post.
The visitors went ahead in the 14th minute with a fantastic goal from a a bit of superb individual skill by a former KDL player.
Former Tralee Dynamos player Darragh Lowth won the ball out on the right wing and after making ground turned on to his left leg and despatched a curling shot which bended in the cross-field wind into the top corner of the net giving the Kerry keeper no chance.
Kerry were back on level terms 8 minutes later when Limerick failed to deal with a Thomas Burke corner kick and it was headed across the goalmouth by the excellent Martin Coughlan to James Rush and he blasted the ball to the net among of forest of players.
As Kerry continued to dominate exchanges they went ahead in the 40th minute with an excellently engineered goal.
Andria Miravet done the donkey work to win the ball and laid it off to Thomas Burke who spotted the run of Dillon Robinson and he went around two defenders and buried the ball in the bottom corner.
Limerick almost equalised just before the break when a Dillon Higgins Kelly free kick unhinged the Kerry defence and Keith Ryan headed over the top from 10 yards when he should have hot the target.
Limerick made a change for the second half with Liam O’Sullivan replacing Philip Talty and they changed to a three-man defence.
There was only one side in it for the rest of the game as Kerry took complete charge of proceedings.
Martin Coughlan, Thomas Burke and Adria Miravet were the engine room of the team in the middle of the park and Dillon Robinson was a constant threat up front.
They extended their lead in the 51st minute with Dillon Robinson the provider of an exquisite ball for Martin Coughlan who turned and volleyed to the net from 12 yards.
They put the game to bed in the 59h minute with a goal of exceptional quality. A dazzling one-two between Adria Miravet and Dillon Robinson had the Limerick defence in a spin and when Robinson got the return ball he jinxed past two defenders and gave the Limerick goalkeeper no chance from close range.
Limerick had a chance to pull one back two minutes later after a great run by Lee Davitt Molloy but he was denied by a great save by Kerry keeper Alex O’Connor turning his shot around the post.
After this Kerry were in cruise control and Darren Aherne used his bench and the subs he introduced accounted for themselves very well.
Kerry put the icing on the cake in the 76th minute when Adria Miravet set up John Hayes and he applied a great finish.
It was a great all round team performance by Kerry with their defence strong and resolute, their midfield were in control and full of creativity while up front they were a constant menace throughout the game.
This win now moves Kerry up the table 4 points ahead of Limerick and will greatly boost their confidence for upcoming games.
They are away to Wexford Youths next Saturday and their next home game is a week later against Shamrock Rovers. KERRY: Alex O’Connor, Kevin Williams, John Ward, James Rusk (Ronan Cahill, 78 mins), Sean Carmody, Sebastian Vasiu (Sheagh O’Connor, 51 mins), Thomas Burke (Boki Nikic, 63 mins), John Hayes, Dillon Robinson (Michael O’Gara, 73 mins), Adria Miravet, Martin Coughlan. LIMERICK FC: Michael Garrihy, Andy Quaid, Josh O’Rahilly (Tyrique McNamara, 75 mins), Tomas O’Connor, Keith Ryan, Lee Devitt Molloy, Darragh Lowth, Dillon Higgins Kelly, Bradley McNamara, Jack Joyce, Philip Talty (Liam O’Sullivan, 46 mins). REFEREE: Kevin O’Regan