Rising star Feely making up for lost time with Kildare
A TRIP to Pairc Eslér in March no longer holds the fear it once did. But there was still a bit of trepidation within Kildare as they went to Newry last month.
Neil Flynn was in hospital, getting his appendix removed, so the Lilywhites were without their free-taker, who’s accuracy from placed-balls was the cornerstone of their revitalisation They took the field against Down with no recognised free-taker. Goalkeeper Mark Donnellan trotted forward to take an early 45 but when Kildare had their first free within scoring range, supporters were shocked by who was given the responsibility.
Kevin Feely had never been known as a free-taker. And yet, he nailed his first kick. And the next one.
Indeed, the first 11 frees he kicked for Kildare, over three games, all went over the bar.
‘Even those of us who watched him play under-age for Kildare couldn’t remember him taking a free,’ says Kildare nationalist sports editor Ger McNally. ‘There was a lot of surprise when he took the first one. But it is another string to his bow.’
Feely has become a reliable dead-ball striker, off both feet. Kildare captain Eoin Doyle says that it is all down to the former Charlton Athletic player’s application.
‘There aren’t too many players who can strike frees off both feet,’ Doyle says. ‘But that’s Kev. He has a great attitude and works very hard at his game. Kicking those frees is the result of that.’
It’s not just his free-taking that has caught the eye. The understanding that he has forged with goalkeeper Donnellan and Tommy Moolick in midfield means Feely is thriving with the new ‘Mark’ rule. He is averaging between three to five marks a game.
This is the 24-year-old Athy native’s second season with Kildare, since giving up on the professional soccer dream in England. Last year was always about just re-acquainting himself with Gaelic football.
Feely first came to prominence as a minor, kicking a last-minute equaliser in the second drawn encounter of a trilogy of thrilling Leinster MFC games with Dublin in 2010.
While there was a buzz about Feely in Kildare football circles, he was also a talented centre-half in soccer — and an Ireland under-age international — and signed semi-professional forms with Bohemians the same year.
However, he only established himself at Dalymount Park when Aaron Callaghan took over.
It didn’t take long for English scouts to start sniffing around. Everton were rumoured to be interested, but the only concrete offers came from Charlton and Peterboro. Feely decided to go to South London because of Charlton’s reputation as a wellrun club but he discovered pretty quickly that life as a professional footballer is not all glamour.
He was signed by the Under-21 management at the Valley. Firstteam manager Chris Powell, a decent defender himself in his day, didn’t rate him as Feely found out when he requested a one-on-one meeting at the start of his second season.
The Kildare U21s (comprising largely of his former minor team-mates) claimed the Leinster title while Athy had won a county title at a time when things had turned sour in Charlton. He tried to resurrect his career with loans, but Carlisle were rock bottom of the league and sacked their manager within two weeks of Feely arriving, while he got injured in his first training session with Wimbledon.
A move to Newport County did re-invigorate him, tough. He spent just over a year in Wales with the League Two side, but the lure of Kildare was too strong. And even if it took a season to settle back into things, it is clear that Feely is going to be a key player for his county in the years ahead.
‘Kevin is an incredible talent, no doubt about it,’ says Doyle. ‘He has an extremely good attitude, which is more important. We did miss him the last couple of years when he was over in England but he has been a huge asset for us this year, he has settled back in.
‘The time away certainly hasn’t hampered him. It is like he has never been away.’