12 hours ago
Kerry face tough group 2 opposition in Kennedy Cup schoolboy soccer tournament
Now, a decade later, the newest iteration of the squad is ready to make their own history. Last year's group lifted silverware in the Shield final, and this year's group is aiming to continue that trend.
The competition will kick-off on Monday, June 9, and only last week Kerry learned their opponents as preparations for this competition really started to heat up.
Ranked as the 16th seed going into the competition, Kerry entered pot 2, and were drawn against Group 2, a four-team pool that includes South Belfast, Tipperary South and North Tipperary.
Of those teams, South Belfast come in as the sixth overall seed in the competition, and had a testing group stage in their Inter League, with themselves, Dundalk and NERL all ending up on six points. Belfast did contest the Shield Final, winning that game 2-0.
Tipperary South and North Tipperary are very well familiar with themselves, not just in terms of geography but also the pair were in the same group during their Inter League campaign. North Tipp topped that group with a perfect performance, while their counterparts had just one win, finishing third.
When it came to the knock-out stages North Tipperary made it to the cup final, which they lost 2-1 to Kildare.
There is plenty of quality in group 2 with the other three teams full of confidence after winning silverware in UL earlier in the year.
Results in the group will determine what pathway Kerry will end up following. First in the group will play in the Cup, with the Bowl, Shield and Trophy for the sides who finish second to fourth. Kerry finished bottom of their group last year by a narrow margin.
Like every year, this year's Kennedy Cup is hard to call. It is a tough group already for Kerry, but they will have confidence ahead of their opening kick-off. Across the other groups action does look fierce, with two of the eight groups containing just three teams.
Nevertheless, the competition will be a chance for a new chapter to be written, another legacy for Kerry soccer, the newest group led by Danny Diggins, Ken Cronin and Aidan O'Sullivan, have a wealth of talent and will look to show that on the big stage.
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Kennedy Cup squad
Ben O'Sullivan (goalkeeper), Daniel Diggins (vice-captain), Daniel O'Leary, Kian Cronin, Shea Horan (all St Brendan's Park)
Gerry Moroney, Leni Rujevcan (goalkeeper), Max Moynihan (vice-captain), Marc Cremin, Patrick O'Connor (Killarney Athletic)
Connie O'Connor (goalkeeper), Seán Kerins (Castleisland AFC)
Cormac O'Sullivan, Noah Brosnan (K illarney Celtic)
Finn O'Sullivan, Ruairi Condon (LB Rovers)
Killian O'Sullivan (Ballyhar Dynamos)
Rian Foley (Killorglin FC)
Joe Joy (captain) Listowel Celtic
Eddie Carmody (Tralee Dynamos)
Kerry's Kennedy Cup fixtures
Monday, June 9
Kerry v North Tipperary at 4pm
Tuesday, June 10
Kerry v South Tipperary at 10am
Kerry v South Belfast at 4pm
