It’s the start of a brand new season for Finn Harps as they may the long journey south to take on Kerry FC in the opening game of the First Division.
Mounthawk Park in Tralee is the venue for friday night’s kick-off.
The four meetings last season saw two stalemates as well as both teams securing one home win.
It’s going to be a long haul down to the Kingdom for Darren Murphy and the lads.
But the Finn Harps boss is hoping for a positive start to the season.
He suggests that the Kerry of this season will be a very different team from the previous seasons.
He said “The games in Kerry over the past couple of seasons have been very difficult and while travel obviously plays a part it also speaks to who they are as a team, especially on their home patch.
“The Kerry of previous seasons isn’t the same Kerry heading into this campaign. They’ve had investment, they want to grow the club in the county and they’ve given Conor the funds to go out and bring players in from further afield to try and do that.”
And he also touched on the long journey down to take on Conor McCarthy’s side.
He added “It won’t be easy. We train at 9pm on a Thursday, so there are players who won’t get home Thursday night until half 11 or so, and then be up and on a bus for 9am ahead of a 6 hour bus journey to play the game and get back on the bus to go up the road again.
“I’m not making excuses, I just think it’s important for supporters to understand the situation and the commitment of the lads who are with the club for the coming season. We’ll give it everything we have and we’ll see what happens Friday night.”
In team news, Corey Sheridan is injured while William Oduwa, Aaron McLaughlin are both doubtful.
