McEleney solid and dependable - ‘Keeping those standards high’

Derry’s greatest strength last season was undoubtedly its defence, with a rejuvenated Shane McEleney right at the heart of it.

There may have been some eyebrows raised when Ruaidhri Higgins brought the defender back to the club from Finn Harps two years ago, but since then he has not only proved his worth, he has been the most reliable defender at the club, playing 73 times in two campaigns, and helping establish the Candystripes defence as the best in the country.

Be it alongside Cameron McJannet, Mark Connolly, Ciaran Coll or Ronan Boyce, McEleney has proved solid and dependable and helped Derry City amass 42 clean sheets in his two seasons to date.

“It’s not just us as a back four and a goalkeeper, that’s us as an eleven,” he said, modestly. “You defend from the front too. But, as a defender, you take pride in it. If we can keep those standards from last year, I think we’ll be in a good place.

“It’s healthy competition as well. There’s good togetherness in the group so if you’re at it, you’ll be in the team, and if you’re not at it you’ll not be in the team. If your form dips, someone else is going to come in and do the job because of the strong squad that we have.

“I’ve been here now at the club for two years and I have played a lot of football over the two years so hopefully I can apply myself properly this year again and do the same thing. Up until now I’m happy personally with what I’ve done as a player and collectively what we’ve done as a group, but hopefully we can add to that this year.”

McEleney has proved that he will even play through the pain if necessary, his mentality the same as any successful footballer – always wanting to stay on the pitch if possible.

“That’s it. When you’re in the team you want to stay in the team,” he agreed. “That’s us as footballers, even if you have a few niggles you want to play. I can’t remember the last game where you think “I’m 100% here’, because you always pick up something, be it a knock in training or a wee strain or something.”

McEleney is hoping that the addition of both Daniel Kelly and Pat Hoban, as well as a few lessons from harsh experiences, will help Derry City improve on where they went wrong last season, especially at home.

“You need the rub of the green, and last year at home whenever we were on top, we just weren’t scoring and then that was coming back to haunt us with teams getting draws or turning us over, but hopefully we won’t have that problem now this year,” he continued.

YOU SHALL NOT PASS… Shane McEleney and Mrak Connolly have formed part of a formidable Derry City defence. (Photo: Seb Daly / SPORTSFILE)

“We’ve added two quality players in attacking areas and hopefully it will be the difference for us now this year. It’s a whole team effort, it’s not just about the attacking players. Even us as defenders, when we have the ball, we’re attacking. I’m looking forward to it now, and I can’t wait to get going.”

‘Feeling great’

Now at 33 years old, McEleney is entering the veteran stage of any footballer’s career, but with his return to Derry City, and his responsibilities as a father, he is finding that his passions are keeping him in great shape.

“When you come into pre-season, you wonder how will the legs be, and you have those self-doubts,” he stated. “I would be lying to you if I said otherwise. But I’ve never felt as good in my career. As I get older, I seem to be getting fitter. You obviously look after yourself better as you get older by doing the right things and eating the right things and you have no choice but to go to bed early when you have two kids under four.

“I feel good, and touch wood I hopefully continue to feel good as the season goes on. But for me, it’s just going season by season and reading how the body is feeling and up until now I’ve been fine, thank God.”

Almost 14 YEARS have passed since Shane scored his one and only Derry City goal, in a League Cup win over Galway United at the Brandywell in April, 2010. Is it too much to expect that this year will finally bring an end to that drought?

“I should have scored four times last year,” he laughed. “I missed two sitters against Bohs, one in the Brandywell, and one down there; I missed a sitter against Drogheda and I can’t remember the other one, but I should have had another one. It eats me up all the time personally because I haven’t scored in so long, but maybe this year is the year. If you’re asking me to keep a clean sheet or score a goal I know which one I’d want every day of the week, and that’s a clean sheet.”