Conal Keaney focused on Ballyboden’s adventure

Conal Keaney has yet to confirm whether he will give another year to the Dublin hurlers, but the veteran Ballyboden St Enda’s man knows that he is just one iffy club performance away from plenty of others trying to make that call for him.

Now 36, Keaney called time on his Dublin hurling career in 2016 before returning to the squad under Pat Gilroy at the start of this year. With Mattie Kenny taking over from Gilroy this season there is more than the one known unknown.

Kenny has left the Ballyboden contingent to their own devices as they prepare for Sunday’s AIB Leinster Club SHC final against Kilkenny’s Ballyhale Shamrocks but the need to prove himself never left Keaney even if it is close to two decades since his county debut.

If anything, the pressure to perform spiked in his 30s.

“You can get retired very quickly. The media do it very easily. Some managers use (a player’s age) as an excuse too and some lads are forced to retire. Managers don’t want to cut them. It depends on your lifestyle, what you’ve done before that, if you’ve anything to offer when you get past 30 or not. And if you really have the motivation to do it.

“That’s the biggest thing. So many other factors come into it – work, family life - that have to be right to do it. I don’t particularly look after myself too well. I’m not too bad but other lads do it a lot better. I’m sure they could go further if they wanted to do it.”

Keaney was disappointed when news broke that Gilroy was stepping away from the Dublin job due to job commitments abroad, but he understands the reasoning and word of Kenny’s attention to detail with a successful Cuala side has lent itself to optimism.

All of which is for another, distant, day.

‘Boden made just one Leinster decider – which they lost to Birr - in a seven-year stretch up to 2013 that delivered six county championships. Now they have edged past Kilmacud Crokes, in the Dublin decider, Clonkill and Coolderry to make it that far again.

It was Colm Basquel who got them over the line against Coolderry.

A member of the club’s All-Ireland-winning football team with Keaney two years ago, he spent the intervening time on Jim Gavin’s county football squad before turning his attention to the small game hurling with his club in recent months.

And Basquel hit 3-3 against the Offaly champions, on his championship debut for Ballyboden, in a three-point win. Not bad given Keaney hadn’t even been aware that he played hurling until last year when he tried, unsuccessfully, to recruit him for the club’s U21 hurlers.

“Yeah, it is impressive. Very impressive for one game. I know that’s very harsh maybe to say. He’s played well in one game and he needs to keep doing that for the next couple of weeks and months. But when you have the pace you can nearly afford to have that extra time.

“His hurling isn’t up to scratch touch-wise but he’s getting there and he’s working really hard on it. He knows he’s good enough. We all know he’s good enough. It’s just a matter of time with the hurl and he’ll certainly be one of the best forwards around.

“Hopefully we see more of that at the weekend and we get him to play more hurling.”