'As long as he can deal with the pressures, he’ll have some career'

AHEAD OF the 2025 season’s kick-off, all the talk at St Pat’s was about a certain prodigious Tottenham-bound striker.

Yet so far, on the pitch, Mason Melia’s displays have been overshadowed by a fellow forward.

With five goals in four appearances, Aidan Keena’s performances have been key to an encouraging start for Stephen Kenny’s side.

Two wins, a draw and a loss have left Pat’s fourth in the table.

Keena was integral to their most recent victory over Derry City on Monday, slotting home two penalties.

The 25-year-old joined Pat’s last summer and has picked up where he left off, having registered six goals in 11 appearances last year.

“I came back from surgery on my shoulder and did half a pre-season and did find it a bit tough coming in where the boys were all fit and flying and had loads of games under their belt, so it did take be a while to get going… Yeah, I feel good this season and hit the ground running,” he told reporters after the Derry victory.

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17-year-old sensation Melia, by contrast, has yet to open his account for the campaign, but Keena has no doubt about the Wicklow native’s quality.

“It’s brilliant. Even the difference in Maso between this season and last season, he’s much more of a physical specimen, he’s come back, he’s sharper, he’s looking very good, we’ve ambitions of trying to win stuff and compete for stuff so the more good players you have the better. 

“I don’t want to blow too much smoke up him now but he’s brilliant. As long as he can deal with the pressures, he’ll have some career.” 

And what was former Ireland U21 international Keena like at 17?

“Not like that! Probably the opposite. I’ve always been a goal scorer rather than a fitness fella and a runner, it’s good to have two opposite strikers that can affect the game.”

Keena himself began his senior career with Pat’s.

Since then, the Mullingar native has been over to Britain and back twice.

In 2022, he lit up the Premier Division with 18 goals in 32 appearances for Sligo Rovers.

That form earned him a move to Cheltenham Town, but an underwhelming spell ensued, with seven goals in 60 League One appearances.

“It was a very different style of football,” he says. “And to be honest, I was way off it at the start of the season, it just happens in football sometimes, whether it’s confidence or style of play, it just wasn’t happening for me, happy to come back and get it going again. 

“Sometimes you just get runs in football where it just doesn’t happen for you and things don’t fall for you, you just have to deal with that and get on with it.”

And now, working under the ex-Ireland boss, Keena’s fortunes have improved dramatically.

“I just keep getting chances and keep catching them clean. Brian [Maher] made a nice save from me in the first half as well, I caught that one nice as well. I don’t know, you just get runs where you’re feeling good in yourself and you just want to keep that going as much as possible.”

But Keena, more than most, is well aware of how quickly things can change in football, so he is eager to keep his feet firmly on the ground, even as the man alongside him up front appears destined for a meteoric rise.

“You just kind of look at two goals a month [as a target], if you do that, you’re looking at 20 for the season. I’ve hit my month’s tally tonight. I’ll look for a few more this month, yeah.”