17 May 2009; Dan Gordon and Kevin Duffin, left, Down, in action against Daryl Keenan, Fermanagh. Ulster GAA Football Senior Championship, First Round, Fermanagh v Down, Brewster Park, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh

FACT FILE

Name: Daryl Keenan
Age:  20Weight:  11st 5lbs
College:  UUJ
Club: Tempo
County: Fermanagh
Position:  Forward
Honours: SFL Div 2, 2 Minor Championships, 2 Minor Leagues, Colleges All Star 2008.

Q1: You are involved in so many teams between club, county and college.  How do you manage to sort out your schedule and keep it all going? Well I decided to give college commitments a back seat this year, and devote all my time to Fermanagh and the club.  I train every night of the week for either Fermanagh or Tempo, and I don’t mind that, it keeps me out of trouble!  It’s easy to sort out my schedule, I always make time and as a student I can have quite a lot of time on my hands!

Q2: Getting into an inter-county side at such an early age, when did you make your mark with Tempo?

Well I made my debut with Tempo at the age of 16, and that year we got relegated from Div 1, so it wasn’t an easy introduction to senior football.  We luckily managed to get promoted straight away and have thankfully remained in Div 1 ever since.  I was fortunate enough to join a senior team that had quality players such as Damien Kelly, Ryan Keenan, Declan Campbell and Conor Foy, and these players can only inspire you to better things.

Q3: You have played at this level for a few years, have you noticed much change in that time?

There are always changes at inter county level but with regards to training it is just like a professional set up, you have to train as many nights a week as possible, every other team is doing it so you have to do it.

Q4: Playing football with Jordanstown, Tempo and Fermanagh together with various other commitments, where do the studies fit in? Well to be honest the studies have to take a back seat (at times), although come exam time, I do knuckle down to some hard work, keeping well on top of coursework helps too.  Most of my time is spent in class during the day then I head down home in the evenings for training and back up again.  I especially enjoy training with my club, playing with people I’ve grown up with.  It’s all about juggling which can be hard going sometimes but the extra effort is worth it if you want to succeed.

Q5: What’s it like playing on the county team with your brother, surely a proud household?

Well it’s always nice to play with your brother, but at the same time we are team mates just wearing the same jersey and trying to do our best to win with Fermanagh.  Fermanagh is a tight knit team with everyone getting on really well together – there is a strong bond.

Q6: Fermanagh have had a poor league campaign this year, with manager Malachy O’Rourke calling the drop to Div 4 a ‘Nightmare’ what has gone wrong in the camp this year?

Obviously it was disappointing to get relegated from Div 3, but all the players and management are putting in a massive effort to get it right.  We have been training really hard but we haven’t translated that into the national league games.  It is hard to put your finger on what went wrong during the national league, but we have to accept that we just weren’t good enough in each game, we must eradicate the mistakes we made in those games to go forward and improve.

Q7: The Ulster Championship sees you take on Cavan in Breffni Park on 12 June in the Quarter Final.  How do you see the county doing this year?

We are looking no further than the Cavan game.  We are going to face a tough task heading to Breffni Park, as Cavan have had a good national league campaign behind them, and will be favourites to advance.  Fermanagh’s record in Breffni Park has been very poor, so it’s a massive challenge for the management and players to go up there and get a result.  All we will be concentrating on will be getting our own performance right, something that we have done in the national league and if we do that, then we will see what happens in the summer.