Rory Kelly says experience has taught him the importance of getting off to a good start this evening at the FAI Intermediate Inter-League Tournament.
Kelly, one of the goalkeepers in Anthony Gorman’s Ulster Senior League squad for the 2018 tournament that is being hosted in Donegal, has seen previously how a poor result on the opening night can derail hopes very swiftly.
Last year, in Galway, the USL selection missed out by the thinnest of margins and were left to agonise on an opening night loss to Leinster, the eventual winners.
This evening, the USL face Munster at the Diamond Park in Ballyare (7.45pm) and aim to keep their hopes alive for the duration of the weekend.
“The first day sets the tone for the rest of the weekend,” Kelly says.
“I first played in this when I was 16. You learn a lot from experience in this. It’s a tournament that can be won or lost in the first game. Whenever you’re planning so much for your own season, it’s hard to get focussed on it because the season has only just started.
“When you’re in your own environment with your squad and you break up, it’s a bit of a shock to the system.
“The quality is there in our League. We should have won it last year. We gave a really good account of ourselves, but that counted for nothing because we shot ourselves in the foot on the Friday night. You have to start well and get a win. You don’t want to come away every year with a hard luck story from the Friday.”
The USL have won this competition only three times previously, but Kelly believes that the class of now can clinch the Michael Ward Trophy again.
The Letterkenny Rovers goalkeeper is based at home now having worked as a management and marketing executive for Platinum One. While based in London, Kelly made the weekly commute to line out for Rovers.
Kelly is still dabbling in the management side of things in Northern Ireland but has taken ‘a bit of a back seat’ with the role.
“I’m just trying to get my ducks in a row here at home now,” he says.
Kelly has outlined before how he lost the love for football while attempting to break through as a teenager at Derry City, but is back in the mood again.
“I’m enjoying football more than I ever did and that’s down to the environment at Rovers,” he says.
“We have a really good group of players in there. We’re all mates and that makes a big difference.
“I was happy enough to do it because we had a good group and we were challenging. Unfortunately we fell short a wee bit last season.”
Rovers lost to Firhouse Clover in an Intermediate Cup semi-final replay last season. While they won the Knockalla Caravans Cup, Rovers were beaten by Cockhill in the League Cup final and in a play-off or the Ulster Senior League.
“I look back on last season as a big disappointment,” Kelly says..
“ We had a really good squad. We had a dip at a really bad time. We had a terrible dip and dropped points we shouldn’t have. We played 35 games last season. For an intermediate team that’s ridiculous and we worked off a panel of 18 players. There was a lot of competition and that showed when we challenged late in the season. It’s something to build on.
“A few of us had bad days at the office in big games but that’s football. We’ve added a bit of quality. What I like about it is that we’ve added young, hungry players. We have Jonny Bonner, who’s a senior player and the best player in the League on his day. Hopefully he’ll be a difference for us.”
“
Tags: