Dublin 6-16
Dubs Stars 1-6
DUBLIN COULD BE without a number of key players for several months but the long-term future is bright and appears to contain Alan Brogan.
Boss Jim Gavin has confirmed that All-Ireland medallists Bernard Brogan, Paddy Andrews, James McCarthy and Dean Rock will all take extended breaks to recover from injuries.
They will miss the O’Byrne Cup campaign which begins this weekend in Mullingar against Westmeath and some may not feature until well into the Allianz League.
Sam Maguire-winning boss Gavin said the plan is to have them fully fit for summer and he’s optimistic about Brogan joining them. Former Footballer of the Year Brogan, 31, only togged out once last year, for the All-Ireland final, and was an unused substitute following groin and hamstring injuries.
He has yet to publicly confirm his plans for 2014 but Gavin revealed the St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh man is ‘keen’ to extend his career.
“Alan’s good, he’s going to go back in to do some gym work over the next month, work with some physios,” said Gavin. “He’ll reassess it then but hopefully he’ll be in good shape to join us at some stage in the NFL.
“Alan is keen, he just needs to go back into the gym. He got seven games with St Oliver Plunkett’s which was great to see and he played very well. They finished strong, they won the Division 2 final and that was good for him and good for the club.
“His form looks good. It’s just to bring it up to the next level now, inter-county level. He’ll make that call over the next month or so.”
Even without Brogan, Dublin have an arsenal of attacking talent with Paul Mannion shooting 2-5 in their New Year’s Eve demolition of the Dubs Stars.
Sub Paul Hudson kicked 1-4 despite only appearing at half-time in Clondalkin while there were goals for Ciaran Reddin, Conor Walsh and Philly Ryan.
Scorers for Dublin: Paul Mannion 2-5, Paul Hudson 1-4, Ciaran Reddin 1-2, Conor Walsh and Philly Ryan 1-1 each, Jack McCaffrey, Jason Whelan and Darragh Nelson 0-1 each.
Scorers for Dubs Stars: Tomas Quinn 1-3 (0-3f), Ryan Basquel 0-2 (0-1f), Eric Finn 0-1.
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; David Byrne, Kevin O’Brien, Niall McGovern; Eric Lowndes, Michael Fitzsimons, Jack McCaffrey; Declan O’Mahony, Shane Carthy; Conor Walsh, Ciaran Kilkenny, Jason Whelan; Paul Mannion, Ciaran Reddin, Philly Ryan.Subs: Harry Dawson for O’Mahony (h/t), Gary Sweeney for Carthy (h/t), Paul Hudson for Kilkenny (h/t), Darragh Nelson for Fitzsimons (37), Gary Cleary for Cluxton (41).
Dubs Stars: Sean Currie; Jarlath Curley, Robbie McDaid, Hugh Gill; Gavin McArdle, Chris Guckian, Michael Concarr; Davy Byrne, Nathan Mullins; Gavin Burke, Ryan Basquel, Alan Hubbard; Eric Finn, Ciaran Dorney, Tomas Quinn.Subs: Fionn Kearney for Guckian (25), James Kelly for Curley (45).
Referee: Gary Owen McMahon (O’Dwyer’s).
