Injuries seldom come at a good time, but there was an especially cruel sort of feel about the one which denied the West Ham United youngster the chance to play a part in a title-winning afternoon.
After becoming such a key cog in a potentially league-topping season, this was certainly not the ending he deserved.
Yet, while Patrick Kelly is understandably ‘gutted’ to be ruled out of Doncaster Rovers’ potential League Two coronation with a hamstring issue, this will not diminish from what has been a season of huge progress from the West Ham United loanee.
A 20-year-old Northern Ireland youth international, Kelly admitted joining West Ham was an ‘easy decision’ when the opportunity arose back in 2022. Brought in after playing nearly 30 first-team games as a teenager with Coleraine, Kelly planned to follow in the footsteps of Callum Marshall.
A fellow Northern Irishman, Marshall was named Huddersfield Town’s Player of the Year this week.
A few miles down the road in South Yorkshire, that honour would go to Doncaster defender Joseph Olowu. But while Marshall has been a bright light in a poor Huddersfield season, Kelly has been one of many impressive performers in an all-star Doncaster cast.
West Ham loanee Patrick Kelly can win the League Two title today
The tigerish midfielder made 30 League Two appearances – the most in any season of his young career – while scoring three times in all competitions.
His first goal in a Doncaster shirt, coming in December’s 3-1 win over Tranmere, even had manager Grant McCann gorging down on humble pie.
“His finish was great but I was screaming at him to square it!,” McCann smiled, in conversation with the Doncaster Free Press. “But he puts it in the net and you can’t grumble.”
“I thought it was a perfect game for him. IIt was a good test for him in and around experienced operators. They’re experienced hard-nuts!
“We said ‘just let your football do the talking’, which he did.”
Glancing through the reactions to his X post a few days ago – Kelly confirmed he will not be fit to take on Notts County in today’s 46th and final matchday – it appears that the West Ham-owned youngster has made quite an impression on the club’s supporters.
Not just with his talent, but also the confidence to go eyeball-to-eyeball with far more experienced operators and often come out on top.
Doncaster Rovers boss Grant McCann praised Kelly’s progress
Should Doncaster beat Notts County in Saturday’s 3pm kick-off, meanwhile, Kelly will have a League Two winners’ medal to take with him back to the London Stadium. His greatest gain out on loan will not be a league title, however, but the invaluable life lessons which could lay the foundations for a successful career at a much higher level.
“I sat with him and asked him his strengths,” McCann said earlier in the campaign, a bit of tough love going a long way. One of them I disagreed with him because I hadn’t seen it yet. He was taken aback by [my comments] a little bit.
“It was aggression, pressing, getting after the ball and recovering. I know he has that, he was excellent at that at West Ham, but sometimes when you step up to League Two it’s a different type of challenge.
“Just showing him some of his numbers and where he is compared to the rest of the midfielders in terms of sprint distances and things like that, I think he was quite surprised. But the last two games he’s played he’s gone through the roof on that.
“Sometimes you just need to give younger players a little reminder of what it’s like to play at this level.”
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