Connolly’s return fuels Dublin ‘drive for five’ speculation
HIS Dublin career and involvement in their ‘drive for five’ in 2019 is still up in the air, but Diarmuid Connolly moved one step closer to a possible return with his second-half appearance yesterday as St Vincent’s cruised into the Dublin SFC semi-final.
Former Dublin stars Tomás Quinn (1-6, 0-4 frees) and Eamonn Fennell (0-3) were to the fore as the Marino men ripped a Ciarán Kilkenny-led Castleknock side to shreds, 1-21 to 1-9, to book a last four tie with St Jude’s.
All the talk was of Connolly, however, and having won a Boston SFC title with Donegal Boston this summer after opting out of Jim Gavin’s 2017 squad, the 31-year-old made his long-awaited club return.
There was a hum around Donnycarney when the five-time All-Ireland winner removed his Dublin tracksuit bottoms (ironically) before being called into action for his first competitive football appearance on these shores since a brief cameo in Dublin’s defeat of Mayo on February 24.
Cobwebs
Having gone through a full pre-match warm-up with the rest of the squad, Connolly (wearing 19) blew some cobwebs off around the middle of the park following his 50th minute introduction for Fennell, which drew easily the largest cheer in Parnell Park yesterday. The man is box-office and the Dublin public showed their affection for him once again.
Having captained Vinnie’s to backto-back titles in 2016-17, Connolly was absent for their April group wins over Skerries Harps and Na Fianna and made his first appearance for their footballers since their shock Leinster club SFC quarter-final defeat to Wicklow’s Rathnew last November.
Connolly showed no signs of rustiness, making a couple of good defen“I sive plays as they preserved their lead and was seen tracking back to good effect to deny a Castleknock score.
Looking lean and fit, there were a few glimpses of his incomparable distribution with some neat foot passing, while he played a hand as former Mayo star Enda Varley scored the first of his three points in the 55th minute having also been sprung into action.
No sooner was the final whistle gone than Connolly had vanished into the dressing rooms and it’s clear that he wants to focus solely on football after declining to comment when leaving the grounds.
His manager Brian Mullins was also tight-lipped.
“Ah yeah, we’re pleased, very happy,” he replied when asked if he was happy to have the two-time All-Star attacker back for their three-in-a-row bid.
“Ah he did... he did well, yeah,” Mullins added of his introduction, while he was coy on whether Connolly has been back in the club fold since returning from Boston.
imagine he has, yeah. He’s back from Boston probably three weeks now,” he said.
Connolly has two weeks to impress before their October 14 semi-final date with Kevin McManamon’s St Jude’s, who had Cork attacker Niall Coakley (1-4) in fine form as they stunned a Ballymun Kickhams side featuring James McCarthy, Philly McMahon and Dean Rock with a 2-9 to 1-11 victory.
The other last four tie will see 2016 All-Ireland club champions Ballyboden St Enda’s – Basquel brothers Ryan (2-4) and Colm (1-2) fired 3-6 between them in their 3-13 to 0-15 defeat of Na Fianna – meet Kilmacud Crokes after the Stillorgan side finished with purpose with Paul Mannion scoring a late penalty in their 2-17 to 0-15 victory over St Sylvester’s.