Football

Debutant Niall Keenan looking forward to Derry Ulster Championship showdown with Tyrone

The Irish News report of the 1947 National Football League final that featured Niall Keenan's grandfather Seamus
The Irish News report of the 1947 National Football League final that featured Niall Keenan's grandfather Seamus The Irish News report of the 1947 National Football League final that featured Niall Keenan's grandfather Seamus

SWEATY palms and itchy feet, butterflies swirling in his stomach… If Niall Keenan isn’t nervous tomorrow then he isn’t human.

Boots and jerseys, bags and people, the smells, the noise… There’s nowhere else in the world like a changing room before a big game and Tyrone in the Championship is as big as they come for Derry.

But Keenan knows he can’t afford to lose himself in it all so he’ll try to keep his head clear as the seconds tick down to throw-in at Celtic Park.

“I wouldn’t get nervous until a couple of minutes before the starting whistle,” he says.

“I’ll think about what I want to do and who I’m marking or whatever, but I wouldn’t want to get too caught up in it.

“You need to throw all the things like the crowd, the TV and all that to the back of your head. Your focus needs to be on the game first and foremost.

“You can look up and see the crowd and that but when the ball’s thrown in you have to concentrate on that. That’s what you’re looking towards.”

The Castledawson clubman will slot in at corner-back for his Championship debut. Nobody gives Derry a hope - he knows that, but doesn’t believe it.

“Tyrone have beat us how many times in the last few years?” he asks.

“A lot of people will be thinking that the same thing will happen again but that can’t phase us, we need to have confidence in ourselves and we have. We have what it takes (to win) and hopefully we will.

“The mood is positive. We came out of the League and there was stuff we needed to improve on, we’ve addressed that and we’re feeling a lot more confident.

“We have the work done and hopefully it will work for us on the day.”

Whether it works or not, you can expect Keenan to give everything he has from the first whistle to the last. His ability and the pride he has in the jersey were obvious in this year’s Ulster U21 final against Donegal.

Late in the second half, with Derry already well beaten, he played a captain’s role, making a superb block on his own goalline and then breaking the length of the pitch to score one of the points of the game.

But that dedication is not that surprising when you take a look at his family tree.

Seventy years ago, Niall’s grandfather Seamus – also a corner-back - was part of the Derry side that won the National Football League.

That 2-9 to 2-5 victory over Clare in 1947 bagged Derry their first senior title, tomorrow they begin their quest for an eighth Anglo-Celt Cup, and the county’s 15th major honour.

The odds are against them winning it this year and there are reasons behind their underdog status that can’t be wished away. Over the two seasons Keenan has been in the panel the counties have met five times and Tyrone have won the lot including last year’s quarter-final.

Keenan didn’t make the final 24 that day, but he was in the dressingroom when Derry raced out full of hope and trudged back hammered by 11 points.

“It’s never a good place to be when the team is losing,” he said.

“It’s not a good thing to see – boys you’re training with and playing with having a loss like that. I know personally it’s not good playing in it either, but it’s one of those things you have to get over and go again the next day.

“The boys can carry it as motivation. Some players like to think it’s a new game, some like to carry it and think: ‘They beat us that time, who says they’re going to beat us again?’”

An encouraging run in the Qualifiers after that Ulster exit took Barton’s side to within a kick of the ball of the All-Ireland quarter-finals, but since then Derry were relegated to Division Three and have lost a stream of experienced players.

On the one hand, it’s not an ideal environment to bring a young player through but the flipside is that Keenan and others have seen plenty of action this year. He played the first six League games before leaving to concentrate on the U21s.

“I’ve been thrown in the deep end and I’m enjoying it,” he said.

“You could say we’re not winning but the games are as competitive as you’d ever get at any age group. There’s nothing more competitive than county senior football, so it’s a great experience.”

Playing for Derry is the ultimate for him and that’s no surprise given his lineage. Keenan is steeped in the Oak Leaf tradition – he is the third generation of his family to wear the red and white jersey and his uncle John is a former Derry chairman.

“I’ve been watching Derry since I was four or five-years-old,” he explains.

“I’ve always wanted to play for Derry.

“My parents would be at every game whether I was playing or not and we would always have gone to all the League and Championship games so it’s massive, massive for me to be playing for Derry. It’s something I always aspired to do.

“My brothers were in development squads, my uncles Ciaran and Seamus played for Derry, my granda Seamus as well, so there’s a big tradition in the family.

“I know all about the Derry-Tyrone rivalry, it’s always there. They’ve had the better of us and they are a very good side, they’ve won five McKenna Cup finals in-a-row, they won Ulster last year and they’re a great side.

“They are constantly bringing through very strong players.

“They’re so well drilled and they have some very, very fit players who fit perfectly into their system. I’ve played against most of them at college and schools level so I would know them.

“I marked Mark Bradley in the McKenna Cup final and I did alright although he got a couple of points off me. They’re good players, very good players and it’s always a challenge and you have to relish it.

“The rivalry is there and we just hope we can get over the line on the day.”

Sweaty palms and itchy feet, butterflies swirling in his stomach… but when the ball is thrown-in it’s just another game. Keenan will fight to the finish.