Adrian Delap started off his football career as a goalkeeper – but, having ditched the gloves in his youth, the Donegal man is aiming to make it into Kenny Shiels’ Derry City squad this year.
Delap, who hails from Ray between Ramelton and Rathmullan, is in flying form for the Candystripes in the Ulster Senior League and is also playing with the club’s under-19s.
Shiels has shown a penchant for blooding youngsters into the first-team, as Ben Doherty, Josh Daniels, Ronan Curtis and Conor McDermott, among others, can testify.
“I want to push on to the senior panel, but I know I have to bide my time,” Delap, pictured above by TheJungleView, says.
“Kenny has given young lads a chance. I need to keep putting in the hard work and hope that it pays off.
I’ve been away with the first team a few times. They’re a massive step up. The standard is unbelievable.”
Delap is playing these days as a right-back, but his attacking preference means he yearns for a the berth just in front of him.
He says: “I would rather play on the right-hand side of the midfield. I can do a job at right-back, but to be honest I’m happy to get to play anywhere in Derry’s team.”
But for Anthony Gorman’s intervention, Delap’s career might well have panned out very differently indeed.
When Gorman recruited him to Glencar Celtic, the young Delap was a budding goalkeeper.
“I was in Rathmullan jumping around and just happy to be playing,” he says.
“Then I went up to Glencar and Anthony moved me. I don’t know why he changed me. I was about 11 or 12 at the time. He must have seen something. I didn’t mind. Again, I was just happy to get to play. I’ll do what I can for the team.”
Delap is a first year student at Letterkenny Institute of Technology and is a central figure in Shane Byrne’s LyIT team that has reached the semi-finals of the CFAI Cup.
A dramatic 2-1 win yesterday against Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa fired the Port Road students into the last four, as late goals by BJ Banda and Daire McDaid earned them a come-from-behind win.
Delap says: “We were against the caution for a while there, but we’re delighted that we came back.
“We had a few chances in the first half, but we were questionable on the break. We’re buzzing to get through. It was amazing when Daire hit the free-kick. It was an unbelievable goal. It’s exciting to be through.
“We bounced back well and we’ll all be mad to go for the semi-finals now.”
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