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PLAYER PROFILE
Paul Keenan
:: Keeno stars as Armagh reach semi's
By: BBC Sport 23/01/06
Carrickcruppen senior player Paul Keenan played a pivotal role on Sunday as Armagh beat Cavan to clinch a McKenna Cup semi-final meeting with Tyrone on 29 January.
Keenan scored two points and made another couple to help Armagh establish a lead of 11 points to five.
Cavan pulled back to within a point thanks to a breakaway goal from Jason Reilly plus James Kiernan and Lorcan Mulvey points.
But two points from skipper Stephen McDonnell made things safe for Armagh.
Keenan, who was on the books of Irish League club Armagh City last season, will now hope to be pushing for a start in Joe Kernan's team, having committed himself to gaelic football.
He sparked Armagh's best spell of the match as the Orchard County scored six points between the 37th and 46th minutes.
Carrickcruppengfc.com would like to congratulate big Paul on his fine performance and wish him all the best in what will hopefully be an exciting year for him within the Armagh team.
:: Paul Shows The Nerve For The Big Occasion
By: Irishnews 23/01/06
Nerves were literally the problem keeping Paul Keenan out of Armagh contention - but there was no sign of metaphorical nerves when he got his
opportunity again.
Sprung from the bench on Sunday against Cavan in their last Dr McKenna Cup group
game, the Carrickcruppen lad proved something of a super-sub. Introduced in
first half injury time as a replacement for the injured Stephen Kernan, the
21-year-old settled in superbly. By the seventh minute of the second half, he'd
kicked two good points, right-footed from the right wing.
Paul Keenan was back, all right, because his back is all right, as the player
himself explained: "I had a few back problems for a while, but hopefully, that's
them cleared up, for another while anyway. "I was just resting it, I'd trapped a
few nerves and it was just a matter of stretching them out and getting myself
right again." His appearance at Crossmaglen came sooner than expected, he admitted, revealing: "I haven't done any training or anything since before
Christmas, it was my first night back last Wednesday. I thought they would get
15 or 20 minutes out of me, but then Stephen got injured and I had to go on at
half-time."
Despite the lack of preparation, manager Joe Kernan was pleased that Keenan
"made a big impact after being out with injury for a while. He showed what we
all know he has, a lot of ability. I was delighted for him; he started well last
year then got a few injuries and once the team got settled, it was hard to get
in." Keenan, a sports science student at Belfast Institute, acknowledged that
"it was good to get a bit of a runout. I had to be patient to wait on it, but
I'm happy enough. "I was a wee bit tired towards the end but that's just because
I haven't played in a while. We got the win anyway, that's the most important
thing."
The lanky forward made sure of the 0-13 to 1-7 victory, not only with his two
points but by winning a free, converted by Paddy McKeever and setting up the
game's final score for stand-in skipper Stevie McDonnell. That last piece of
action, in the 63rd minute, was all the more impressive because he persevered to
keep in a high punt from Ciaran McKeever that most players would have given up
on, before laying the ball back perfectly for McDonnell. Keenan knows that such
hard work will be required if he's to press his claims for a starting slot in
future games.
He was the one bright spot of Armagh's opening League game last year, scoring
1-1 in the defeat at Wexford. However, his further involvement was limited to 20
minutes of the game against Galway. As an U21 last year, he was content with
that: "I got a few runs last year in the League, then that was it. I was happy
enough just to stay on the panel for the Championship." He'll want more
game-time in Armagh's defence of their National Football League Division One
title, but as for next weekend's McKenna Cup semi-final against Tyrone, he
simply says: "It's up to Joe, we'll see what the story is." `Big Joe' will
undoubtedly admire Keenan's hype-deflating analysis of the clash against the Red
Hands: "Aw, it's just another game." When that provokes laughter, he only adds:
"Everybody wants to win the games, that's just it."
No problems with his back - nor with his head or mouth.
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