Waterford looking to end long Kennedy Cup wait
The 2024 Waterford Kennedy Cup team that will begin their campaign on Monday next in Limerick.
The 2024 edition of the SFAI National Kennedy Cup tournament gets underway today (Monday) as the Waterford Schoolboy League go in search of a fourth ever title in the week-long tournament to be staged the University of Limerick from June 10 to 14 inclusive.
After going so close to lifting the famed title two years ago when losing out to the Cork League narrowly, Waterford were unlucky last year to lose the opening group game that put them on the back-foot before eventually running out as the third-placed Shield overall winners.
But this year will be another difficult challenge in one way for Waterford as they have been put in a three-team group where they’ll face both the Kerry League and the South Tipperary League in a bid to reach the knockout stages of the competition.
The Kennedy Cup has a good success record for team manager David Whittle as he was part of the first-ever Waterford team to win the competition back on Sunday, June 27, 1993, and he will know the mammoth of the task that lies ahead for his players.
Along with his backroom team of Ian Barrett, Chris Kiely and Eoin Barden, the Bohs man will be hoping that his side can give it their best shot against some of the best underage players in the country, which for this year is set to include the DDSL after they failed to partake in the last couple of years.
Preparations for the team began at the start of the year, and they have worked hard ahead of their week with destiny, which is the pinnacle week for many of the young players that play in their respective league team.
Waterford will get their campaign in group 8 underway at 6pm on the Monday when they take on the South Tipperary League before facing the Kerry League on Tuesday evening at 6pm where they’ll be hoping to top the group with the first game crucial to their standings.
The Kennedy Cup will see the DDSL return to the Kennedy Cup stage after they opted to come back into the SFAI competitions this year after an absence last year. Like last year, the draw for the latter stages of the competition will be made live in Limerick when the groups are complete.
The Kennedy Cup undoubtedly brings its own degree of pressure for the players as it’s one of the biggest competitions with many of the players hopefully going onto bigger things, while others will play representation football for their county possibly for the last time pending on moves to the League of Ireland.
As Waterford continue to prepare for their opening game, it has to be said that they have a squad that will be hoping to do their level best to do Waterford proud. It’s going to be a week to remember for the 20-man squad, and we wish them all the very best of luck.
Maciek Ozog (Bohemians), Dara Cunningham (Bohemians), Harry Hennessy (Villa), Luke O’Connor (Ferrybank), Jeff Butler (Tramore), Alex Deevy (Villa), Dylan Barden (Bohemians), Alfie Ryan (Villa), Cian Kelly (Ferrybank), Gearoid Power (Dungarvan), Keelan Browne (Bohemians), Michael Moloney (Bohemians), Joel Osawe (Villa), Rory Cullinane (Park Rangers), Eric Wiley (Bohemians), Daniel Power (Tramore), Marc Daly (Tramore), Charlie Herron (Bohemians), Nathan Power (Bohemians), Matthew Lyons (Park Rangers).
– Waterford Schoolboy League v South Tipperary League at 6pm on Pitch 7
– Waterford Schoolboy League v Kerry League at 6pm on Pitch 5
