Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
GLOVES COULD BE OFF FOR CHRIS
Injury forces Keenan to consider his future
CHRIS KEENAN admits he will be doing some soul-searching in the weeks ahead as he mulls over his future following the horrific facial injury he suffered playing for Larne Tech.
The flamboyant goalkeeper broke his jaw in three places during a collision with his own player 10 days ago in the Tech’s 1-1 draw against league leaders Ballynahinch Olympic.
Keenan was dazed and in agony when he was helped off the pitch, but amazingly returned to the sidelines a short time later to watch the rest of the game unaware of the damage he had done, with the full extent of his injuries only coming to light when he visited A&E later that evening.
He underwent a two-and-a-half hour operation at the Ulster Hospital on Sunday morning where he had six pins inserted on the right side of his jaw, four on the left and a further four at the bottom.
He describes his injury as “more awkward than painful”, and is facing six weeks on a blended food diet while his jawbones knit back together.
Beyond that, he has been advised that it will be three to four months before it is strong enough to withstand the cut and thrust of football again, should he wish to return to the game that is.
In the immediate aftermath, Keenan was leaning towards retirement, but admits that early resolve is weakening by the day as he gets better.
And with Larne Tech genuine contenders for promotion this season, there is the tantalising prospect of a return to action just in time to help them over the line.
That said, Keenan is adamant he won’t be rushing into any decisions.
“To be brutally honest, I’m not really in any pain,” said the Tech’s 30-year-old stopper.
“After the initial shock of it happening, and for an hour or two after it, it was quite painful but since the surgery, I have felt grand.
“What happens now is something I’m going to have to sit down and think about to be honest.
“It’s just a week old but obviously football doesn’t pay bills and my work has been very good with me.
“I himmed and haa-ed last week and thought that was me finished but as I felt better as the week wore on, I started thinking it wasn’t that bad.
“Anyway, the doctors have told me I can’t physically get back into the game for 12 to 16 weeks just to be sure everything is grand again.
“But I can’t just dive into a decision and say that’s me finished or not finished, it’s not that easy, I could still want to play on.”
In Keenan’s absence, Tech boss Johnny Hastings has recalled Brendan Quinn to first team duty, with his first game the small matter of a Border Cup semi-final against Crumlin Star.
‘Chick’ as Keenan is known, was in attendance for the game at his old club Crusaders, and felt the Tech keeper performed admirably despite enduring the heartbreak of a penalty shootout defeat.
“I thought wee Brendan Quinn was superb on the night,” said Keenan.
“Especially with getting thrown in at the deep end. I think we were hard done by, I saw the highlights of the offside goal and I don’t think it was offside, I think it hit a Crumlin Star player on the way through.
“Although Crumlin had a lot of chances, we set ourselves up well, as we have done for a long time now, teams find it hard to break us down.”
On the league front, Keenan insists his team has both the quality and belief to finally clinch promotion after years of knocking on the door, adding: “We have gone unbeaten in the league for a year now, and last week against Ballynahinch was a massive game for us and to be honest, until I came off injured, I thought we were the better team.
“We created the better chances and for the rest of the season, we just need to keep it going and maybe that defeat last week (to Crumlin Star) is something that can spur the boys on.”