McCARTHY GETS A KICK OUT OF DUBS’ AWAY DAYS
AFTER bowing out in the first half of the recent Allianz League final with a hamstring strain, Dublin footballer James McCarthy returns to action for his club Ballymun Kickhams in their county championship opener against St Brigid’s at Parnell Park tomorrow. McCarthy will be hoping to suffer no ill-effects as he sets out to land a sixth AllIreland medal with the Dubs this summer. His importance to Jim Gavin’s set-up is obvious, given he is one of only three players to have started each of the five AllIreland finals Dublin have played since 2011 (six if the 2016 replay is included). Stephen Cluxton and Cian O’Sullivan are the other two. ‘I didn’t know that. I will take that, it’s not bad company to be in,’ said McCarthy. And while Gavin had reinvented him as an allaction midfielder for last year’s Championship, Michael Darragh Macauley’s resurgence in form has meant that the Ballymun man has been able to move back to his more natural home in the half-back line during the recent League campaign. ‘There is not much difference any more, the way the game has gone, between any of the positions in the middle eight, really. Subtle differences but wherever I am playing, it doesn’t bother me.’ The starting point in Dublin’s bid for a four-in- arow will depend on the outcome of the provincial preliminary round clash between Offaly and Wicklow and McCarthy is looking forward to going on the road with the champions. ‘From my own experience, I love the away games, love playing outside of Dublin,’ he said. ‘There is a real enjoyment, a real kick in playing in Omagh and Castlebar and places like that. There is a different atmosphere, everyone is on top of the pitch. I really enjoy it and am looking forward to wherever we have to play for the first Championship game.’ The big question that will hang over Dublin’s title defence is whether Diarmuid Connolly will return to the fold before the Leinster opener. McCarthy, like Ciarán Kilkenny earlier in the week, was on message yesterday, saying the gifted forward was ‘taking a rest’ and he hoped to see him back for the summer.