There are certain players that fly under the radar and rarely get the attention that they deserve. When the plaudits are being dished out, they are nowhere to be seen. Rightly or wrongly, this happens within almost every team.
The man who falls into this category for Bohemians is midfielder Paul Keegan. While he may only be a new arrival at Dalymount Park, he has already slipped into the role of the quiet man in the side.
There have been at least three games in the fourteen league encounters so far that he has dominated, yet it wasn’t him that went home with the Man of the Match bottle of bubbly. In a lot of ways, this is partly the fault of Keegan himself.
You see Keegan is a deep-lying midfielder, who picks up the scraps, shuts down the opposition, and keeps everything tidy in front of his own back four. It is a job that not many would volunteer for as it keeps you away from the spotlight and restricts your time on the highlights reel.
In order to really appreciate a player like Keegan, one has to look a little deeper.
After standing out as a teenager for Home Farm, it didn’t take long for a host of scouts to regularly turn up to watch the Castleknock native. At that time, he was attending school in St Declan’s, Cabra, so his routes in North Dublin were firmly planted at an early age and it now seems that playing for Bohemians was something he was destined to do all along.
Keegan eventually signed for Leeds United and did well in their U-18 side and then their Reserve team before being informed that he was not in their long-term plans. That must have hurt, but it actually allowed him to mature much quicker as he had to deal with that rejection so early in his career.
Since leaving Elland Road, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at U-21 and U-23 level, while also winning the Premier Division, the FAI Ford Cup, and the Setanta Sports Cup during his three years with Drogheda United.
However, he was once again searching for a new club at the start of this year when Drogheda flirted with extinction due to a financial mess that they got themselves in. There was no shortage of suitors for the ball-winning midfielder, but he chose to move closer to home and join Bohs.
He has made an immediate impact with The Gypsies to the extent that the central midfield pairing so far this season has almost always been Keegan plus another. Both Gary Deegan and Glenn Cronin have slotted in alongside and produced noteworthy performances, yet it is Keegan who is the first-choice to command the midfield.
Manager Pat Fenlon appreciates what the 24-year-old brings to the team and appointed him as captain of the Ireland U-23 team last year. When Stephen O’Donnell’s contract was up at the end of the season, he moved quickly to sign Keegan as a direct replacement as he knew that he was getting a player that he could depend on.
As Bohemians look to pick up another home win, there will be a player working hard in the middle of the pitch to ensure that they have every chance of taking the three points. He might not have the flicks & tricks that some do, but he is consistent and a vital cog in the Bohs machine.