Delany loving life at Shelbourne

He may be facing stiffer competition than there has been in a few years for the goalkeeper's jersey at Shelbourne, but Dean Delany says that having another strong 'keeper in the team is spurring him on to perform even better. Paul Skinner was drafted in by Alan Mathews in the close-season and Delany says that the competition between the two is a productive one.

"It's freshened things up for me" says Delany. "Skins is a Premier Division 'keeper, he's more than able to take my place." Still, Delany maintains that the jousting for the number one jersey is healthy. "I'm nearly 31 [and] I'm knocking on a bit now and I know that I always have to stay on my feet in training."

"You wouldn't be looking to make mistakes in training. You've to be constantly on your toes, this year the training is definitely having an effect on the team- last year if we were one or two up we could fall apart."

Training is another thing which Delany pinpoints as a major factor in his good start to the season. "Shay is very in depth in his training" says Delany of his goalkeeping coach Shay Kelly. "He is very in depth with psychology and about 70% of being a goalkeeper is psychology."

But what exactly does "psychology" mean? Are we talking Rocky-style sprints to the top of mountains here? "It's mainly concentration drills," Delany says, "positioning drills and that sort of stuff. Obviously you're still going to work hard on everything else, but psychology is very important." And it seems to be working, he says: "we've gone three games on the trot without conceding now."

At this stage, it's hard to think of a Shels side without Dean Delany in it. He has been virtually ever-present since he re-joined the club in 2008, with only a season at Waterford United in 2007 breaking up seven years of service. And even during that season, the Crumlin man says that he was always eager to get back to Tolka Park. "In my mind I was always dying to get back" he says. Signing for the Reds was an easy decision, says Delany. "It was Dermot [Keely]'s second season when I was asked back. Especially with Waterford being relegated, I snapped at the chance to work with Dermot after hearing so much about him."

Before Waterford, a stint with Derry City looked likely, but that collapsed at the last minute. "It got to the stage where I got back from being on holiday in Spain and was told [by Derry] that the offer was no longer on the table." This left Delany without a club just after the start of the season, until Waterford came in for him. Down in the sunny South-East, Delany was named Player of the Year for the 2007 season.

Pat Fenlon initially signed Delany for Shels in 2004, but before Shels he had a relatively successful period at Port Vale. He was signed for The Valiants after a two year spell with Everton. "Originally when Nutsy signed me for Shels," Delany recalls, "I had planned to go back to England. But with Shels going the way they were - sweeping teams aside on the way to league titles and the rest - they were hard to turn down."

Since then, Delany has become a firm fan's favourite, and now speaks of his affinity with the club. He admits that playing in the First Division in 2008 was "a bit of a comedown" but goes on to say that he "genuinely felt we'd win the league that season." We all know what happened then on the last day of the season, but Delany is in no doubt as to where the club belongs. "The club deserves to be back in the Premier Division. Hopefully this will be the season we go up."

Delany has had his chances to leave Shels in the past ("a couple of offers that year with clubs in the Premier" but "none of the top four"), but says that he now has too much of an attachment with the club to leave - "it'd be too hard to walk away from."