DAMIEN DUFF started Conan Noonan on his League of Ireland pathway.
Now the Shamrock Rovers ace is hoping to block his former manager’s unlikely title charge.
Noonan was recruited for Rovers by Duff when he was the club’s Under-15 coach, famously introducing 6.30am sessions, in addition to their evening training.
The player hails from Broadford, Kildare — that was an arduous trek for him and his parents — but there have been tougher tests since, with 2022 and much of 2023 a write-off because of long Covid-19.
It has made the 21-year-old all the more appreciative of his ten Premier Division appearances this term, having had just nine to his name before this season.
Noonan said: “I’ve really enjoyed this year, it’s been brilliant to get as much games as I have, just to be playing football when there was a chance I thought I might not play again.
“It was just out of nowhere, Long Covid. People might think Covid is not that big a deal.
“But I know it is and I’m sure there are other people in the same boat.
“It was just a horrible year, there are no two ways about it.”
The midfielder’s return to action was delayed because of an elevated heart rate whenever he tried to step up his work.
But he singled out Dr Alan Byrne and the club’s strength and conditioning coach Eoin Donnelly for praise for helping him through the tough times.
He said: “There are so many people I can’t thank enough but those two particularly, that year or nine months that I was out, they got me through it.
“It was stop-start, I was nearing a return halfway through the year and then I got Covid again and there was so many tests and stuff, you’ve got to be safe when it’s the heart, you can’t rush back.
“To be fair, Rovers were amazing and did everything to make sure I was all right.
“I was in every day. If I was doing activity, it would raise my heart rate.
“So for the first month I was only doing things lying down, then I’d be doing things nearly at a 45-degree angle and then building away and it was just a long process but we got there in the end.
“Even the first few months of last year, I was back but I wasn’t myself because I was only getting back.
“I think towards the end of last year I was starting to feel like myself again and I was happy to push on this year.”
Tallaght supremo Stephen Bradley rebuffed loan enquiries during the close season with Noonan happy to stay and fight for his place.
Rovers’ lengthy injury list has helped him feature more regularly than he might have otherwise and he chipped in with his third assist against Drogheda United on Monday.
But former Arsenal prospect Bradley has always been a big fan with Noonan putting his ability to play off both feet down to the encouragement of his dad who did likewise as a Gaelic footballer.
And further development happened under Duff’s watch when he persuaded him to join Rovers’ academy from St Kevin’s.
Noonan recalled: “When he came knocking at the time and when it was Shamrock Rovers, those two together, it’s kind of a no-brainer.
“We’d be in at half-six in the morning and we’d have another session in the evening. It was mental, but I think it helped us.
“I enjoyed it anyway. It was a bit of a trek for me, travelling so much, but it was good.”
Monday’s win moved Rovers into second, two points off Shels but Noonan said: “We don’t really pay attention too much to the table. We just try to win our games.”
And the immediate focus is another Dublin rival with Noonan hoping to feature at Dalymount Park for the first time on Friday.
He said: “I think that’s the game everyone looks forward to, as far as Rovers fans are concerned anyway.
“That’s the big game. It would be amazing to play in it.”