- Andrew Dempsey
- Tue, Feb 14 2023
UCD captain Jack Keaney admits he and his Belfield teammates are out to prove their doubters wrong again this season in the Premier Division.
Defying the odds throughout, the Students ensured their top-flight survival thanks to a play-off win against Waterford at Richmond Park.
And Keaney is eager for Andy Myler’s young guns to kick on this season despite losing a number of key men.
“I suppose we were written off at the start of last year by a lot of people,” he told extratime.com.
“It will probably be the same this year and it gives us good motivation to go out and prove people wrong.
“It was always going to take us a few games to get used to the standard last year and it probably took a bit longer than we would have liked.
“But nobody can complain about the end of the season when we were very good. During that play-off game we deserved to win. It was brilliant and hopefully we can kick on.”
With the likes of Colm Whelan, Dylan Duffy, Sean Brennan and Evan Caffrey leaving during the off-season – the Students have been forced to adapt.
And they have been able to the likes of Brendan Barr, Adam Wells and Mikey Raggett to their ranks to make up for the loss of some key players.
“In every off-season you are welcoming new boys and getting lads in,” Keaney adds. “But we’ve lost a few who were key to us last year.
“The new boys need to step up and that is something that we have been drilling into them. They know what we are about and they look good so far and long may it continue.”
With so many new faces in the dressing room at the Bowl, Keaney’s standing has only grown and he is revelling in his leadership role alongside some of his older teammates.
“There is a good core of senior lads,” he said. “Dara Keane, Michael Gallagher, Sam Todd, Mark Dignam and Lorcan Healy.
“There are a good few lads there that know what we have to do. It’s something that we have been drilling into the new lads and Andy has too.
“Andy has been brilliant. We just want to keep the standards high and keep it going.”
And that experience has seen the Students become a firmer challenge for many of their top-flight rivals.
“We are always known as a bit of soft and pushovers but we are trying to change that over the last few years and I think we have,” Keaney adds.
“Hopefully that can stay this year and we will stay hard to beat.”
On the opening night, UCD visit Dundalk in their quest to get their 2023 Premier Division campaign up and running on the right footing.
“When you’re in the league you are looking at the games when you play the best,” he finishes.
“We’ll get our homework done and hopefully we can hit the ground running.”
