Ewan Lee's late leveller earns Kerry a point away at Treaty United

HONOURS EVEN: Kerry manager Colin Healy after the SSE Airtricity Men's First Division match. Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile.

Treaty United 1 (Ferry 65)

Kerry 1 (Lee 85)

It was honours even at Market's Field as Ewan Lee bundled home a late equaliser, which cancelled out Patrick Ferry’s top-class header, that had broken the deadlock on 65 minutes.

The draw puts Treaty five points ahead of Wexford as they look to further cement their play-off spot. Tempers boiled over in stoppage time, when Dean Ownes cynically stopped a Kerry counter-attack, with a rugby tackle.

Referee John Sconnie Walsh issued four yellows as upwards of 15 bodies got embroiled after the whistle. Sean McGrath took exception to the foul and it threatened to completely boil over.

The Kingdom had only picked up eight points from a dozen trips on the road, so the point will be welcomed for Colin Healy’s men, who add to Friday’s 4-0 home win over Athlone Town.

Treaty were able to call upon midfielder Stephen Healy, after successfully appealing the red card suffered in last Friday’s 3-2 loss to Bray Wanderers.

Tommy Barrett’s side did enjoy the bulk of the possession in the opening half, and they had the best of the chances too.

In the opening minutes, Mark Byrne raced clear but his attempted lob was thwarted by Matt Connor, who was just inside the penalty area. The rebound fell to Lee Devitt but the high-scoring midfielder sent his effort narrowly wide.

The same two had chances on 31 and 32 minutes. Byrne looped a header over before on the next play, a speculative effort from Clare native Devitt curled over the bar, perhaps the elements carrying the ball farther than he would have allowed for.

The wind on Shannonside certainly played a part – as in the main it blew directly down the pitch. Matt Connor struggled to reach half-way with his kickouts at times in the opening half, as the ball hung up more often than nothing.

It was a stalemate at half-time, with captain Lee-J Lynch limping off for the home side after just twenty-four minutes.

Kerry skipper Ronan Teehan got his head to a corner five minutes into the second half but failed to direct his back post effort on target.

Connor got a strong hand to a Byrne effort on 59 minutes, though the attacker will feel he should have scored given his proximity to the goals.

Ferry broke the deadlock with his first goal at Markets Field, meeting Evan O’Connors cross with a stunning header as the game approached the final quarter.

Ewan Lee managed to miss from six years with just ten minutes remaining, he evaded any cover but guided a floated free kick over the bar.

However, he wasn’t to be deterred and pounced on a long throw-in from Samuel Aladesanusi that wasn’t dealt with by the Treaty defence, allowing Lee the chance to bundle to the net.

Treaty United: C Chambers; E O’Connor, R Lynch, B Lynch, R Boevi (Nwankwo 88); L Lynch (C) (C Conroy 24), S Healy; L Devitt, M Murphy (C Wilson); M Byrne (J Hanson 77), P Ferry (D Owens 77).

Kerry: M Connor; K Williams (F Barrett 71), S Aladesanusi, C McQueen, E Lee, S O’Connell (C Brosnan 71); C Mujaguzi (S McGrath 66), O Crowe; R Cleary (J Adams 58), D Okwute (K Amechi 66), R Teehan (C).

Referee: John Sconnie Walsh.