Kerry FC lost 3-1 at Longford in the SSE Airtricity Men’s First Division.
Match report:
With temperatures of 29 degrees approaching kick-off, there was a real summer football feel in the air in Longford last night as the Kingdom made the long journey to the midlands to take on Longford Town in Bishopsgate.
For Kerry, a win was badly needed to stop a run of 3 straight defeats, which saw the Kingdom lose a lot of ground to the final play-off berth. Defeats away to Cobh and Wexford were backed up by a 4-0 home defeat to league leaders Dundalk last time out. A win over Longford would see the Kingdom move back to 7th in the league table.
As for the hosts, they were finding form at the right time of the season and were a point ahead of Kerry in the table heading into the game in Bishopsgate. Kerry has only left the ground with a single point in 5 previous attempts and was looking to turn that tide.
First Half
The hosts couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game and found themselves a goal to the good inside 3 minutes. A lapse in concentration at the back and an onrushing Longford Town attack allowed Stefan Ugbesia in on goal and slotted home past Mathyas Randriamamy in the Kerry goal. A gift of an opener for Longford.
The Town were 2-0 up after 9 minutes, Dean O’Shea doubled the hosts’ lead. A short back pass by Mujaguzi found Ugbesia. Niall Brookwell cut out his shot, but the rebounding ball fell perfectly to O’Shea, who slotted home with ease and gave Kerry a huge uphill battle.
Kerry stemmed the tide until the water break. Colin Healy turned to his bench and introduced Arran Healy to add some creativity to the midfield and switch to a back 4.
The game settled, and there was very little to note until the 41st minute when Ronan Teahan went on a good run but was fouled on the edge of the area. Sean O’Connell stepped up but had to go low, and his effort was dragged to the right and wide. Kerry were glad of the half-time break and could use the 15 minutes to regroup and refocus.
Second Half
Kerry did just that and were back in the game just 5 minutes after the restart. Some good build-up play from the back by Ronan Teahan and Kevin Williams, who pinged a lovely ball forward to new signing Robbie Cleary. He turned his man well and let fly from the edge of the box and buried the ball home to the bottom right corner. A great finish on his debut, and Kerry were back in the game.
It was a real purple patch for Kerry, and they should have found an equaliser just minutes later. It was Cleary again inside the box, his rifling shot rattled the crossbar and a huge let off for Longford. Another big chance came a couple of minutes later. Sean McGrath cut inside on the left, and his goal-bound shot was deflected off the post and behind for a corner.
But with Kerry lumping everyone forward in the search for a goal, it was the hosts who would restore their 2 goal cushion in the 57th minute. Another mix-up at the back and Ugbesia gathered a loose ball and slotted home into the net to score his second of the night and the hosts’ third.
Robbie Cleary forced a big save from Harry Halwax in the Longford goal in the 64th minute. Arran Healy swung in the resulting corner, and there was a huge scramble on the line, but no Kerry player could knock the ball into the net.
Mathyas was called into action again in the 70th minute, and he made a big save in a 1 v 1. Longford did have the ball in the net again 10 minutes from time, but the offside flag chalked that one off.
The game petered out from there, with the teams beginning to struggle in the heat after a high-intensity clash for 90+ minutes. So it is another disappointing defeat for the Kingdom on the road, but focus now shifts to next Friday night’s Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup clash against Athlone Town in Mounthawk Park.
KERRY FC: Mathyas Randrianmamy; Kevin Williams, Christopher McQueen, Niall Brookwell, Sean O’Connell; Carl Mujaguzi, Abel Alabi, Ronan Teahan, Sean McGrath; Robert Cleary, Daniel Okwute
LONGFORD TOWN: Harry Halwax; Oisin Hand, Osaze Irhue, Andy Spain, Dean O’Shea; Eric Yoro, Emre Topcu; Pharrell Manuel, Aaron Doran; Daragh Murtagh, Stefan Ugbesia.
The Kerry U17 women lost 4-0 at home to Waterford.
Kerry game today:
Men’s U17s-home to Waterford at 2
