AFTER MONTHS of frustration, there was finally some elation for Stephen Mallon on Monday night.

The winger proved the match-winner as Bohemians beat St Patrick’s Athletic 1-0.

He took his goal very well, showing good strength to shrug off the attentions of teenage full-back Jack Scott before finishing coolly.

The moment had an added significance for Mallon. It was his first Premier Division goal for the Gypsies, the club he joined from Sheffield United ahead of the 2021 season.

The 23-year-old had some encouraging times before then. He may never have broken through at the Blades despite several years in their underage setup, but he did have two invaluable loan spells in Australia with Central Coast Mariners and far closer to home at Derry City.

However, it would be fair to describe his Bohs career so far as being stop-start. Surgery on a metatarsal injury meant he missed a large chunk of last season. In total during 2021, he made just five appearances, all of which came from the bench.

Nonetheless, the departure of some important players coupled with his improving fitness, have presented Mallon with opportunities in this campaign.

He has started both Bohs’ league games so far. And on the basis of Monday night, he is grasping this chance. 

That said, both player and club are acutely aware of the importance of not putting too much pressure on his body.

After his telling contribution, he was replaced by Jordan Flores just after the hour mark on Monday, while he was also taken off with 19 minutes remaining of Bohs’ season opener against Dundalk.

“It’s a great feeling,” he said, in reaction to his winning goal. “With the year that I’ve had, it’s not been easy, it’s been a long journey. The staff, medical staff, strength and conditioning coaches, the gaffer, everyone has worked endlessly to get me back on the pitch and make sure I’m fit.”

“He’s worked hard because he’s been unfortunate with the injuries he got straight away when he came to us last year,” Bohs coach Trevor Croly added. “He was kind of injured until near the end and we got him back for the Cup final and I thought he did well when he came on. He just ran out of time to get more games and he’s worked really hard in the off-season and he’s come back. It’s lovely for him to be able to score the winner in a Dublin derby.

“The last four or five games [of last season] we had to manage his minutes, even in those games in the last month we had a limited number of minutes that we could give him. They were the instructions and it was difficult for him.

“He ran out of energy there which was understandable having played Friday and Monday. I don’t know, I must look up the record books for the last time Stephen played Friday and Monday, it would be a long time.”

Mallon admits last season was particularly frustrating, as he had to accept that his game time would be limited amid a gradual recovery process.

“It was tough, it was frustrating, but I’ve got to trust [the medical staff] and know they want the best for me,” he says. “I was restricted a little bit, I wanted to get going, with missing so many games, I wanted to play as much as possible. But it’s my career that’s on the line, so I’ve got to listen to the professionals. They know best.”

And did he genuinely feel his time in football could end owing to the seriousness of the injury?

“When you’ve got these one-year contracts, I’ve had two seasons now where I’ve been injured. A lot of players get written off when they have two or three years of injury. So for me, it was all about making the most of the opportunities that I did get. Now, getting fit and staying fit is the main aim for me.

“Obviously being in the stand and watching every week, watching the lads, I was just eager to get out there. But you don’t know the feeling until you are actually out there and obviously the feeling of scoring tonight, I can’t put words to it.

“As I said, it has been tough. But these are the nights that you work for and hopefully, for myself, there are many more of these to come.”

While nothing can be taken for granted in football, Mallon is hopeful that the worst of his injury problems are now behind him.

“It all comes down to luck as well. I’ve been unlucky in terms of that, but I’m doing everything off the pitch in terms of lifestyle, extra work… I’m doing everything I can to make sure I’m available to the gaffer every week this season.

“There’s still a bit to go, you build up to it, I’ve not had a steady pre-season, I had a knock or two, limited minutes in pre-season so the last two games was the longest I have played in 18 months. It will take time to build up but game after game I feel stronger, in a couple of weeks’ time, if I stay in the team, I should be back to my best.”

Born in Belfast, Mallon has represented both the Republic and Northern Ireland at underage level, and he says he has yet to come to a definitive decision on that matter.

“It’s one of them, it’s up in the air, nothing is set in stone,” he explains.

For now, Mallon is simply focused on doing well for Bohs and he believes that, without the potential distraction of European football, the team can go far this year.

“Last year, we finished worse off than we should, most games we dominated and were the better side, it’s just this year same again but we have got to see out games, we have got to keep performing every week, there’s no reason why we can’t go and win the league this year. That dressing room is full of talent, the main thing is it’s full of lads who want to work hard for each other and give everything for the club so, with that set of lads and staff, there’s no reason why we can’t kick on.

“I know from last season the lads were run down game after game, the gaffer mentioned something about 11 Friday/Monday games when other teams only had six and that takes a toll on the body, living with [a couple of teammates] they were saying they were sore, fatigued. We go under the radar a bit this year, a lot of teams have written us off, we [are missing some] lads from last year, but there’s no reason why we can’t do better this year.”