HEALY: THIS IS WORTH EFFORT

KARL O’KANE

DEAN HEALY was handed his Wicklow senior debut by one Mick O’dwyer – and in Kilkenny of all places. Talk about opposite ends of the football spectrum.

It was Freshford back in 2011 at a time when the Cats were playing League football before they dropped to junior level.

Accountant Healy, 30, had captained the county under-21s that year, and has since gone on to be a mainstay of the Wexford senior side for a decade.

Speaking about his debut, Wicklow captain Healy said: “A nice thing to experience, and in a football stronghold like Kilkenny as well!

“At this moment in time, I’m probably one of the elder statesmen.

“There’s a couple of others hanging on there. We were unfortunate to lose one or two characters last year – the likes of Seanie Furlong.

“Unfortunately with Wicklow, it can be about continuity and the age-profile of the team.

“When I broke into the team, there were a lot of older, more experienced lads. You had Leighton Glynn, Paul Earls, James Stafford floating around.

“It’s easy for a young lad to come into that environment when you’re looking at grown men plying their trade.

“I think over the years, especially when Harry (Murphy) left and Johnny (Magee) took over, a lot of older lads left and you’re trying to plug the gap with lads with little or no experience.”

Healy welcomes the inaugural Tailteann Cup, even though he has reservations about how it will work out.

However, he says it would “mean the world” to him to grace Croke Park again for the first since a 2012 League final clash with Fermanagh.

Healy (above, with cup) continues: “It (playing for Wicklow) might not have given me much exposure, but exposure means very little to me.

“I take enormous pride in representing Wicklow. My family do too. I have a young daughter who is 14 months old and she’s travelling the length and breadth of the country and experiencing all these grounds. It means very little to her now and she won’t remember it but it’ll mean a lot to me in years to come.”