Kerry FC 1 Waterford FC 1
Waterford FC had to come from behind to secure a draw in the penultimate game in their SSE Airtricity League First Division clash with Kerry FC in Tralee.
With the competition for places hotting up ahead of the playoffs, Keith Long made eleven changes to the side that lost to Galway, leaving the likes of Ronan Coughlan, Derek Osede and Barry Baggley on the bench.
There was very little between the sides in the opening half with Kerry’s best effort coming when Daniel Okwute took advantage of mix up between Killian Cantwell and Paul Martin to get ball and go around keeper but angle was too tight and Cantwell cleared easily.
There were shouts for a penalty on 35 minutes when Dean McMenamy appeared to be fouled by Ethan Kos but the referee waved away the Waterford claims. Three minutes later Lee Axworthy parried a great shot from Anthony Adenopo.
Kerry made the most of a defensive mix up on 56 minutes to get the breakthrough as Leo Gaxha pounced on a weak back pass from Cantwell and when the ball bounced between him and Martin, Gaxha got a header into the empty net.
Keith Long made a series of changes immediately with Ronan Coughlan, Conor Parsons and Rowan McDonald coming in and they had the equaliser on 69 minutes when Shane Griffin lobbed a lovely free kick into space in the penalty area and he calmly fired beyond Lee Axworthy,
Axworthy saved Kerry on a number of occasions as Waterford sought the winner but there was no way through and the home side held on for the point.
Kerry FC: L Axworthy, R Vasiu (R Teahan 8'), E Kos, S McGrath, R Kellehir, L Gaxha, K Williams, N Gleeson, S Aladesanusi, M Coughlan (C Brosnan 79'), O Okwute (K Amechi 89')
Waterford FC:P Martin, D Power, N O Keeffe (B Baggley 74'), S Griffin, S Atakayi (C Cresswell 74'), A Baker, C Pattisson ( R McDonald 59'), K Cantwell, D McMenamy (C Parsons 59'), R Mansfield, A Adenopo (R Coughlan 59')
Referee: D Toland (Westmeath)
