CONNACHT SFC SEMI-FINAL GALWAY v SLIGO: Ian O'Riordanhears why Sligo corner-forward David Kelly is such an influential player for the county as they prepare to face Galway on Sunday
ONE OF the indelible images of last year’s football championship was of Sligo manager Kevin Walsh consoling David Kelly, holding his chin up with one hand, shaking his hand with the other, moments after the final whistle had blown in their third-round qualifier against Kerry. Sligo had lost by a single point and, a few minutes earlier, Kelly had seen his penalty saved brilliantly by Diarmuid Murphy. Had it gone in then Kerry would almost certainly have gone out.
“I’d say devastation is the word,” Walsh later admitted. “We threw everything we had at Kerry. Okay, the penalty was there for us but I don’t blame David Kelly one bit. He was the thorn in the side all evening for Kerry, and also in our last two matches.”
Walsh wasn’t merely standing by his man; he was acknowledging the wonderful effort and talent of his young Sligo forward. The consolation was more a mark of approval. Kelly had still made an enormous impact that day in Tralee, scoring 1-1, forcing the half-time substitution of Marc Ó Sé, amongst other things. Kelly’s future was unquestionably bright, and no one realised that more than Walsh.
So when Sligo resumed their championship efforts this year with the dazzling win over Mayo, earlier this month, no one should have been surprised when Kelly picked up where he left off last summer – scoring 0-3, setting up several other scores, and ending up with the RTÉ man-of-the-match award.
Still, lots of people around the country were asking who is that amazing talent for Sligo? And is he really that good?
One man not all surprised is Professor Niall Moyna of the Health and Human Performance Department at Dublin City University (DCU). Kelly has just completed his degree there, in Sports Science and Health, and was also hugely influential in helping DCU win the Sigerson Cup earlier this year, again under Moyna’s guidance.
“Even before that Kerry game last year,” says Moyna, “anytime he played for us here at DCU, people would always be asking us, ‘who’s that number 15’? And we have quite a good forward line. From the moment he came you could see he was a very prodigious talent. I think if he was from any other county he would have been heralded a long time ago.
“He’s very, very comfortable on the ball. He’s got a nice low centre of gravity. And he’s a ferocious worker. But for me the best way to describe David Kelly is as a wonderful individual, in his mannerisms on and off the field.
“But he’s worked very hard on his game too. If I did had one criticism of him, before, it would have been that he was not a great ball winner, but inclined to play it off. He’s so comfortable on both sides, so one of the things we focused on in DCU with him this year was his finishing. Because he has the capability of getting at least three or four points every game, if not a goal to go with that.”
At the end of that successful Sigerson Cup run, the DCU team voted Kelly their player of the year – which speaks volumes about his talents given that team included Seanie Johnston, Shane O’Rourke, Donie Shine and Cathal Cregg. But even before Kelly arrived at DCU his talents were being celebrated. Still only 22, and yet in his fifth year on the Sligo senior championship panel, he first made his mark on the underage teams of his club, Tubbercurry. When aged 10 his father Michael moved the family to the area, taking up the post as manager at the local Bank of Ireland, and almost straightaway Kelly started turning heads.
“One of the things you’d have noticed about David from a very young age was his great alertness and awareness,” says James Walsh, the Tubbercurry secretary, who also coached Kelly in his early years. “It’s one of those things you can’t really coach into a young fella. He’s just a real natural. And he doesn’t get ruffled by anything. Even though he gets a fair bit of attention. And not always the most welcome attention. He’s got a great temperament. He never gives any trouble either. He’ll do whatever is asked. No issues.”
In 2006 Kelly captained his school, St Attracta’s, to the Connacht Colleges senior B championship, and really hasn’t looked back since. Tubbercurry, still the most successful football club in Sligo with 19 county titles, has proved the perfect breeding ground (although they did lose the 2008 county final), and club mates Colm McGee and Stephen Gilmartin, all the same age, are proving equally influential on the Sligo team – McGee hitting four points against Mayo, and Gilrmartin helping lord midfield alongside Tony Taylor.
Further evidence of Kelly’s natural talent is he’s equally gifted at soccer, playing on several Sligo and Sligo-Leitrim underage teams. “He would have been a very handy soccer player as well,” says Walsh. “Although that was never going to be his first choice.”
Moyna reckons Kelly’s soccer experience has only heightened his Gaelic skills. “It goes back to that theory of playing other sports. The soccer has given him a great awareness of space. That’s a crucial attribute for a corner forward. He tends to play as an orthodox type corner forward, and in that sense it’s very important he understands space, and time. And he has the innate ability to do that. And he’s still so young.”
Walsh’s unyielding faith and belief in Kelly, meanwhile, looks set to pay off again tomorrow, when the Sligo manager faces off against his native Galway.
Perhaps there is pressure on Kelly this time, as more people become aware of that Sligo talent in the number 15 jersey. “You know what?” says Moyna. “It won’t worry him. He’s that type of player. He’s a quiet, unassuming guy anyway. I certainly can’t speak highly enough of him, and I know he’d walk onto most county teams in Ireland.”
That much we all know.
