Derry's Kelly wants silver streak to continue

Daniel Kelly has become accustomed to winning trophies in recent years, and he wants that to continue at Derry City.

In his time at Dundalk, the winger won one league title, one FAI Cup, one EA Sports Cup, two President's Cups, one Unite the Union Cup and was part of the squad which played in the Europa League Group Stages in 2020.

And he wasn’t just a passenger in that level of success as he contributed some significant numbers from midfield.

In 101 starts and 156 appearances overall for the Lilywhites, Kelly scored 34 goals from midfield, including two hat tricks, as well as providing 17 assists. Overall, in his career, Kelly has made 195 senior appearances and scored 41 goals, 34 for Dundalk, six for Bohemians and two for Bray Wanderers.

So, it was no surprise that Ruaidhri Higgins came calling when it became clear that Kelly was set to leave Oriel Park, and the winger has now reunited with some very familiar faces, who have swapped the black and white of Oriel for the red and white of the Brandywell.

“I think there’s seven of us here that used to play for Dundalk so settling in has been easy,” he admitted. “The club itself has been really good to me, the manager and the players around the place have been great so it’s been easy.

“It does feel weird. You think when the lads are leaving that the chances are you’ll not get the chance to play with them again because football is obviously a short enough career. But the fact that I get the chance to play with the lads again is unbelievable, and obviously big Pat coming in with me is unbelievable.

"I’ve been with him for five years now – I thought I was getting rid of him, but I have another two years left with him at least. He’s the main man and hopefully he’ll be banging the goals in for us.”

Kelly has been a real pain for Derry City in recent years. He has four career goals against the Candystripes. He scored and assisted for Bohs in a 2-0 win at the Brandywell in August 2018. His first for Dundalk was the opener in the 3-2 FAI Cup win at the Brandywell in August 2019.

He then got the only goal at Oriel in a 1-0 win in October 2019. His last against Derry City was the opener with Patrick Hoban also on target as Dundalk beat Derry 2-1 at the Brandywell in June 2021.

Kelly also suffered a bad hamstring injury whilst playing against City back in August 2022 and missed the rest of the season as a result. In the recent 2023 season, he missed just six games with injury and none since May.

Used to playing with some of the best players in the country, Kelly is looking forward to creating that magic again at his new club.

PROBLEMATIC… Daniel Kelly caused some hard times for Derry City in recent years. (Photo: Ramsey Cardy / SPORTSFILE)

“In 2019, when we were all there, the lads were incredible,” he explained. “I got a few goals and a lot of assists from a lot of quality around me. I’m just glad to be involved with the lads again and hopefully now everybody stays fit because in the last few years they’ve had a few niggles here and it does hamper you a bit. But if everyone stays fit we’ll have a real good go at it.

“The actual standard of players is incredible here, especially the attacking options. A lot of players can play in different positions going forward, there’s not a designated left winger or right winger, there are players who can play in the 10, or up front or on the left or the right, so there are plenty of attacking options and it will just make everybody better. Even in the training sessions, the standards have been quite high so it’s only for the better.”

New dynamic

Having Ruaidhri Higgins as his manager now means it is a new dynamic between the two, but Kelly believes that the relationship between he and the boss will ensure that it is a successful pairing once again.

“It's slightly different,” he acknowledged. “He was obviously video analysis but we would have gotten on really well and he would have helped me as a one vs one coach and he has done a lot of things with me that have helped my game. I’ve always kept in contact with him.

"It’s obviously changed a small bit now because he’s manager, but he still has the same mentality. He’s a winner, he’s a very, very good coach and I have no doubt that he will help me get even better again. He’s done well since he came in here over the last two and a half years; the club has been on the up so hopefully it stays that way.”

Kelly knows well enough just how strong Shamrock Rovers are and understands just how difficult it will be to pry the title from them in 2024.

“It's going to be tough, especially the way the league has gone the last couple of years,” he stated. “It’s been a lot more competitive in terms of everybody beating each other, so I would imagine that the league is going to be quite similar again this year. There’s a lot of teams that can win the league, it’s not just ourselves and Rovers. Obviously, Pat’s came close behind and there’s going to be teams improving like Bohs and Dundalk, so it will be tough but we have a good group of lads and a great manager so hopefully we will be able to do the business.”