WHEN ADAM HANLON appeared for Finn Harps in a pre-season friendly against the Inishowen League in January at Maginn Park, the question on everyone’s lips was: ‘Who?’.
That was only natural, particularly given that his name was jotted down on the team sheet as ‘A Hanley’.
Whether or not that was a ploy to confuse a watching attendance that included the Derry City manager, Kenny Shiels, is anyone’s guess, but 24 hours later Hanlon’s signature was on a form to sign for Finn Harps.
Shiels attempted to prise Hanlon from under Harps’ noses after an impressive display on the right flank despite a 2-1 defeat for Ollie Horgan’s team.
Horgan was so keen to capture Hanlon’s signature he drove to Arklow the following night to meet with the player.
Hanlon has been in relegation battles in each of his four years as a League of Ireland player.
While he was relegated in 2013 whilst he was with Shelbourne, he managed to survive in 2012 by five points, 2014 by a point and last season by four points, all three times with Bray Wanderers.
“I was at Bray and Shelbourne and was in battles so I enjoy that sort of thing,” Hanlon says as Harps prepare to go to League champions Dundalk on Friday night.
“I had other offers, but I’m happy where I am and happy with what I decided to do. I’m not going to look back.
“Hard work is Ollie’s motto. He has brought a lot of quality in here too. Once we work hard our quality will come through.”
Hanlon and Dave Scully make the trip to Letterkenny once a week for training. Outside of that, Hanlon trains with his native Arklow Town.
Horgan capped Hanlon with the Republic of Ireland Schools and showed a keen interest in the midfielder in pre-season.
Hanlon says: “Ollie had offered me a deal. I came up to play against Inishowen because I wanted to see what the drive was like.
“He knew it was a bit further away than Ballybofey and he told me not to come up, but I wanted to. I wanted to see what the lads were like and what the set up was like. I was impressed that first night and it pushed me to sign.”
“I’ve loved it here. I didn’t know what to expect when I signed, but it’s gone great so far. I’ve embraced everything about it. Getting a win like that against Derry makes it all worthwhile.”
Hanlon made an impressive debut for Harps last Friday in the 2-1 derby with over Derry at Finn Park.
He says: “I enjoyed it. It was great to get the win.
“I didn’t think it was going to be as big as it was. You can see how much it means to people with the crowd and the atmosphere. It was great to be involved in that.
“We dug deep, we got the result and we deserved it.
“It’s only a start and we won’t get too far ahead of ourselves.
“We know what we’re in for , but we showed that we’re strong enough to be here. We know it’ll be a battle, but we can compete here.”
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