Treaty Utd succumb to derby defeat to fall adrift of play-off spot

TEN-man Treaty United fell to a 3-1 defeat in Friday evening's SSE Airtricity League First Division Munster derby at Mounthawk Park in Tralee as Kerry bolstered their play-off hopes at the expense of their Shannonside neighbours.

Ronan Manning cancelled out Sean McGrath's spectacular opener with a glorious free kick midway through the second half. But within six minutes of the equaliser, Treaty conceded twice and had been reduced to 10 after Darren Nwankwo picked up two yellow cards in as many minutes.

The defeat leaves Tommy Barrett's side 11 points adrift of Cobh Ramblers in the final play-off position, while Kerry move to within two points of fourth-placed Longford Town ahead of next week's crucial meeting between the sides.

Treaty made the brighter start, with Steven Healy testing Matthew O'Connor inside 90 seconds. The Kerry goalkeeper struggled to hold the effort initially but gathered at the second attempt. O'Connor was called upon again in the 20th minute when Colin Conroy tried his luck from distance, while Jack Brady was forced into action at the other end to keep out Cian Bargary.

Just when it appeared the sides would go into the interval level, McGrath produced a moment of brilliance. Picking up possession in space, the Kerry forward danced past two challenges before curling an unstoppable effort into the top corner.

Kerry pushed for a second after the restart, with Cian Murphy heading over from Rob Keane's cross before Bargary was unable to convert another inviting delivery. Treaty then came within inches of levelling when Ben Feeney's curling effort from outside the box crashed off the crossbar.

Parity finally arrived in the 64th minute. Manning stood over a free kick on the edge of the Kerry penalty area and produced a wonderful strike into the top corner, with O'Connor only able to get fingertips to the effort. However, the reprieve lasted just three minutes.

Substitute Ryan Perez restored Kerry's advantage with his first touch after coming off the bench, driving through the heart of the Treaty defence before firing a low effort beyond Brady.

The night then unravelled for Treaty as Nwankwo was dismissed after receiving two yellow cards in the space of little more than a minute. The first came for a heavy challenge on Murphy, before a second booking followed after an off-the-ball altercation involving the Kerry attacker.

Kerry almost immediately capitalised, but Murphy headed Bargary's excellent cross over the bar. With all the momentum behind them, Kerry found a third with a quarter hour to play as Niall Brookwell managed to poke home a scrappy inswinging corner that the Shannonsiders didn’t deal with as the kingdom ensured of the three points.

Treaty will now look to respond when they welcome eighth-placed Wexford to the Markets Field next week, while Kerry travel to face Longford in a pivotal clash in the play-off race.

KERRY: Matthew O’Connor; Sean O’Connell, Jonas Hakkinen, Samuel Aladesanusi, Ewan Lee; Vincent Borden, Niall Brookwell, Robert Keane (Ryan Keane 67), Cian Bargary (Cian Brosnan 90); Sean McGrath (Arran Healy 77), Cian Murphy.

TREATY UNITED: Jack Brady; Ben Lynch, Robbie Lynch, Killian Cantwell; Ronan Manning, Ben Feeney (Mark Walsh 80), Colin Conroy (Colm Whelan 53), Steven Healy (Billy Regan 80); Darren Nwankwo, Brian Cunningham (Mark Byrne 80), Jason Oyenuga (Dare Kareem 53).

REFEREE: Daniel Murphy.