Keogh taking Galway opportunity
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With Galway United sitting bottom of the table and six points behind Drogheda United, it has so far been a tough campaign for the Tribesmen. Extratime.ie spoke to Galway youngster Shane Keogh to get his thoughts on all things Galway United. At the age of 17, Shane has established himself as a regular fixture in the Galway squad, even grabbing himself a goal against St. Patrick’s Athletic.
Shane, or Keoghsie as he is often called, is optimistic and he feels that Galway have a lot more yet to give. “So far it’s been a tough season but I think we’re not as bad as our league position shows, like we have great quality in the squad and in my opinion we have the best manager in the league. On a personal level it’s been satisfying because I'm getting some games under my belt and its giving me great experience, but as a local lad it’s very disheartening to be losing every week especially with the players we have at the club because there is definitely potential within the squad.”
The Tribesmen have so far lost 16 games this season and have only recorded one victory. Contrary to what the table suggests, they have put in several good performances and always fight to the bitter end of each game. So what exactly has gone wrong for Galway United this season? “It’s hard to nail down a certain reason like we had a great start to the season we were playing great football and we even went to Dalymount and beat Bohs, so it is definitely in us to go out and perform. But I think the fact we are a young team is telling in some games where we can't see out games and grind out results. Hopefully now that we have nearly 2 rounds of games out of the way we can knuckle down and get a couple of results and get off the bottom of the table.”
Things are not looking good for Sean Connor’s side at the minute and with only one club to be relegated this season, competition will be tight. Shane is optimistic and feels that they can beat relegation. “I believe we will get out of it, we have too many quality players at the club to be relegated to the first division. It’s great for young lads like myself coming through the ranks at the club to have such quality to learn from and work with everyday in training. The likes of Shaun Maher, Paul Sinnott, Bobby Ryan and Alan Murphy have been about the league and know what it takes to make a living out of football so to be in training with them every day and learning from them is great.”
An admirable fact about Shane Keogh is that the young lad juggled his Leaving Cert playing for Galway United at the same time. This meant he often had to miss school to travel to away games. “The manager has been great giving me time off whenever I needed it to sort out my school work and get my head down and get it out of the way. But it’s over now so I'm going to put my head down and put in a very good summers work and just see where it goes from there. Like I definitely believe in my own ability and I believe I can play at a very high level so I'm going to give it my all and see where it takes me.”
Unfortunately, he has just sustained two broken toes which are likely to keep him out of action for at least a month. Having been out of action for Galway’s most recent defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic, it is possible Shane will miss up to five more games for Galway United.
As a young lad who clearly has a strong career ahead of him, it’s clear that Shane has a lot of respect for manager Sean Connor. In terms of his own future, the Galway defender is concentrating on the future rather than thinking of life after Galway United. “I don't really think I'm in a position to start planning my future out. I'm only starting my career here at Galway and learning the trade under Sean (Connor) and he's been great to me. I've come on leaps and bounds under him and it’s a credit to his own management skills. So I'm going to keep my head down, work hard and just hope for the break that every footballer dreams off.”
Shane, or Keoghsie as he is often called, is optimistic and he feels that Galway have a lot more yet to give. “So far it’s been a tough season but I think we’re not as bad as our league position shows, like we have great quality in the squad and in my opinion we have the best manager in the league. On a personal level it’s been satisfying because I'm getting some games under my belt and its giving me great experience, but as a local lad it’s very disheartening to be losing every week especially with the players we have at the club because there is definitely potential within the squad.”
The Tribesmen have so far lost 16 games this season and have only recorded one victory. Contrary to what the table suggests, they have put in several good performances and always fight to the bitter end of each game. So what exactly has gone wrong for Galway United this season? “It’s hard to nail down a certain reason like we had a great start to the season we were playing great football and we even went to Dalymount and beat Bohs, so it is definitely in us to go out and perform. But I think the fact we are a young team is telling in some games where we can't see out games and grind out results. Hopefully now that we have nearly 2 rounds of games out of the way we can knuckle down and get a couple of results and get off the bottom of the table.”
Things are not looking good for Sean Connor’s side at the minute and with only one club to be relegated this season, competition will be tight. Shane is optimistic and feels that they can beat relegation. “I believe we will get out of it, we have too many quality players at the club to be relegated to the first division. It’s great for young lads like myself coming through the ranks at the club to have such quality to learn from and work with everyday in training. The likes of Shaun Maher, Paul Sinnott, Bobby Ryan and Alan Murphy have been about the league and know what it takes to make a living out of football so to be in training with them every day and learning from them is great.”
An admirable fact about Shane Keogh is that the young lad juggled his Leaving Cert playing for Galway United at the same time. This meant he often had to miss school to travel to away games. “The manager has been great giving me time off whenever I needed it to sort out my school work and get my head down and get it out of the way. But it’s over now so I'm going to put my head down and put in a very good summers work and just see where it goes from there. Like I definitely believe in my own ability and I believe I can play at a very high level so I'm going to give it my all and see where it takes me.”
Unfortunately, he has just sustained two broken toes which are likely to keep him out of action for at least a month. Having been out of action for Galway’s most recent defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic, it is possible Shane will miss up to five more games for Galway United.
As a young lad who clearly has a strong career ahead of him, it’s clear that Shane has a lot of respect for manager Sean Connor. In terms of his own future, the Galway defender is concentrating on the future rather than thinking of life after Galway United. “I don't really think I'm in a position to start planning my future out. I'm only starting my career here at Galway and learning the trade under Sean (Connor) and he's been great to me. I've come on leaps and bounds under him and it’s a credit to his own management skills. So I'm going to keep my head down, work hard and just hope for the break that every footballer dreams off.”
