MEK Galaxy B 0
While traditionally Tralee Dynamos have been regarded as the aristocrats of Kerry soccer over the decades, they have been suffering a major silverware drought in more recent years now.
Well if they have they rectified the situation at soccer headquarters on Friday evening when they were crowned Division 2A League Champions after a well merited win over Fossa side MEK Galaxy.
The Tralee side were the kingpins of the game in the county for a long period winning numerous accolades since the club was established back in 1961, but it has been seven years since they last won a title at senior level.
When many of their key players retired a few years back Dynamos had to take appropriate action and develop the game at underage level during a transition period and bring young players up through the ranks.
They focused a lot of attention on building up their under 17 and under 19 teams and now they are reaping the reward for all the hard work they put in.
They invested in coaching staff as well and now it has got the club back to the Promised Land again. The bulk of the Dynamos squad come from their Youths and under 17 teams, and they are glued together by a few experienced players and it has proved to be a winning formula and now their mantelpiece is decorated with silverware again.
MEK came into this game with an unbeaten record in the league, but they were a bit rusty going into the final as they had not played a league game for a very long period of time which greatly affected their preparation for the decider.
However, they matched their opponents in all departments of play, but Dynamos had a better cutting edge up front and took their chances when they came.
The game got off to a lively start with Dynamos settling in quickly and they were distributing the ball very cohesively and were very dominating the game at midfield. They created a good chance after 10 minutes when John O’Brien set up Chris O’Sullivan but he was unable to find the target.
MEK then forced two successive corner kicks, but they yielded nothing. Then they got a free kick in a good position, but Kane Phelan put his shot wide.
The Fossa side unhinged the Dynamos defence in the 20th minute with Harry Buckley having a great chance to score, but he was denied by a splendid save by the Dynamo keeper Kyle Clifford.
The game was played between the two boxes for the final 10 minutes of the first half with very few scoring chances created. The game was delicately poised at the interval, but it was evident that it was going to be a low scoring encounter.
Five minutes into the second half Dynamos went ahead with a brilliant goal. The impressive Atita Imoh won possession at midfield and made a great run down the right wing and he showed great vision and insight to spot the run of John O’Brien and threaded a great ball through to him and he cut in from an angle and drilled the ball low across the goalmouth and it went in at the back post.
They almost extended their lead shortly afterwards with Nathan Rogers only inches away after a corner kick while a diving header by Atita Imoh was held by the MEK goalie Paul Murphy.
MEK almost equalised three minutes later with an effort from Kane Phelan was just inches wide. Now both sides began to use their benches and Dynamos sub David Townsend stole the show in the 79th minute when he beat the MEK offside trap and he ran free from the middle of the pitch and steered his shot well clear of the MEK goalie and he found the bottom corner of the net from close range.
MEK tried hard to pull a goal back, but could not get past a solid Dynamos defence well marshalled by Paddy Carmody Jeffrey Roche and Fergal O Shea. Now Dynamos played the game at their own pace and ran out comfortable winners at the end.
While MEK will be disappointed to lose the game their decision of forming a B side was very worthwhile as now they have a bigger squad to choose from which is good news for the club going into the future.
One man who was delighted with Dynamos win was Gerard Moloney who has been involved in the club since their formation back in 1961.
While he has stepped back from involvement in the club in recent years he keeps a watchful eye on the clubs fortunes over the years.
He watched the game from the Press Box on Friday evening and was amazed at the great facilities the KDL have.
A great goalkeeper in his day he said players have great facilities now and he is delighted that Kerry have so many teams playing League Ireland football at underage level.
He says he is looking forward to senior League of Ireland football coming to Tralee and he wishes the very best of luck to everyone who are striving to bring it to fruition.
Normally Dynamos win silverware at some level almost every season but it has been 7 years since they won a trophy at senior Level.
The Tralee club had a great season in 2015 as they got to the Munster Junior Cup final, but they lost to Waterford side Carrick United. However, they bounced back quickly and they won the Premier A title defeating Listowel Celtic 6-0.
After that a good few of that squad retired and the club went into a transition period trying to build up a panel of young players. Their plans worked out well and this season they had a big squad and were able to form a B side.
Starting out they did not know how they would fare out, but they surpassed their expectations and it was an added bonus to get to the league final and winning it was a huge achievement. A lot of hard graft went on behind the scenes to make their plan work and they were rewarded with silverware.
There was a great reception for the captain of the Dynamos side Paddy Carmody when he was presented by the cup by the secretary of the KDL John O’Regan.
He said he was delighted by the way his team played and he paid tribute to the management team of Ross O’Connor, Eoin Cassidy Paul Dewey and Damien Diggins.
He said it was a long time since the club won a title but with some very good young players coming through he said he was confident that silverware will come to the club more frequently going into the future.
He commended MEK Galaxy for a good competitive game and wished them the very best going forward.
TRALEE DYNAMOS B: Kyle Clifford, Fergal O’Shea, Jeffrey Roche, Nathan Rogers, Paddy Carmody, Tommy Sheridan, Atita Imoh, Chris O’Sullivan, Lorcan Seymour, John O’Brien, Brendan Coffey Subs: David Townsend, Billy Stack, Scot Hennessy, Jamie O’Shea, Adam Hegarty, Asagad Wondermariam
MEK GALAXY B: Paul Murphy, Leo Healy, Jack Galvin, Michael Griffin, Michael Beckett, Kieran Ward, David McSweeney, Shane Evans, Harry Buckley, Kane Phelan, Stephen Corsini Subs: Sam Treherne, Hubert Dziedzic, Corey Doyle, Ronan Walsh
REFEREE: Adrien Quirke
