LAST UPDATE | 22 Jul 2022
WHEN SEAN KELLY went off injured in the 2021 Connacht final, Galway went to pieces. He was a leader then and is their leader now.
The 25-year-old was made captain by Padraic Joyce at the start of the season, although that title is not the reason he was sent off in the All-Ireland quarter-final, despite some suggestions to the contrary.
“I heard that around, but it wasn’t said on the day,” he says when asked at Galway’s media day.
“At the time he was just like we were an instigator to the melee. Obviously, that changed then. It got overturned.
“There was just so much going on, it is tough for a referee to pick someone. As I said already it is not what you want to see in our game, in fairness to him it was a tough choice for him, but he had to pick someone. I got the short straw you could say.”
In the stadium that day, Kelly’s progression through the various stages of agony was striking. He was dumbfounded, angry, crestfallen, then suddenly composed. Before extra-time kicked off, the Moycullen club man was in the middle of the huddle urging his team-mates on.
“Obviously at the start, disappointment. These are the games you want to be playing in. An All Ireland quarter-final, extra time too. It was a tough battle. Once you get that word it is not going to change.
“You just try to encourage the lads, they have extra time to play. I tried not to let it affect them either, just get them ready for extra-time. The next play really.”
Kelly is one of three brothers in the panel now. Paul has featured regularly off the bench this year while Eoghan was called up recently after impressing with the club and in NUIG’s Sigerson Cup success.
They are the sons of the late Pádraig ‘Dandy’ Kelly, one of Galway’s leading players of the 1980s, who sadly passed away in November 2001.
Growing up they played anything and everything. Sean was a talented underage soccer player for Salthill Devon. All three were cross-country runners in school and superb basketball players. Paul played underage for Ireland.
Eoghan captained Moycullen to the 2016 National Cup final and subsequently went to Connecticut on a basketball scholarship. He later accepted a scholarship offer from a D3 school in Chicago.
He returned to Ireland in 2020 and started back playing junior Gaelic football. Gradually, with the help of his two brothers, he progressed.
“He was away from football for three years playing basketball in college, but he was playing at such a high level over there,” explains Kelly.
“The games can intertwine; footwork, lots of similar stuff in terms of defending seeing man and ball. So there is a lot of similar stuff between the sports sometimes.
Obviously, Eoghan just needed to work on some of the skills. He had been away from the game for three years, but he has had a great year with club and then went into the Sigerson.
“He had a good year with the Sigerson and then obviously in here now. Still, he obviously has major room for improvement and he will relish that opportunity.
“We are busy enough. All going training together. It is a bit of a family affair with three of us in there. Obviously, it is an honour for our family.”
Rewind to May 2021 and Galway were on the receiving end of a 22-point hammering against Kerry in the league. Kelly came on in the second half that day. How surprised is he at their improvement since?
“In fairness, we had belief and confidence, me personally in our team.
Pádraic has tried to instil it since he has come in that we should be fighting for All Irelands. Thankfully now this year we have kicked on an extra step and we are in one. We are just looking forward to it now.”
Kelly has transitioned seamlessly from middle-third workhorse to full-back after Seán Mulkerrin’s injury left a void. Joyce has said it didn’t take a long conversation to convince his captain to slot in there. Wherever he is needed, he goes.
Even still, the late concession of goals against Armagh demonstrated a chink Kerry are likely to prey upon. Not that it unnerves Kelly. Not much does.
“Obviously we have been working on it in training, it is something we have confidence in. It is not something we are scared of, but if they do they do. It is a good tool, Armagh got joy out of it. If it happens we will do our best to deal with it.”
