Carey admits he almost quit team

ANOTHER retirement — this time permanently — might very well have been inevitable for DJ Carey if he had not made it back to the Kilkenny team for the All-Ireland series.

After being troubled by a neck injury and undergoing an appendix operation, he said yesterday he had given up on being involved in this year's championship 10 weeks ago.

"What happened for me since was way beyond what I could have hoped for,'' he said.

"I have always said I am my own biggest critic and from that point of view I felt I wouldn't have the fitness to get back in or the desire to get fit to get back in, because you are a long way behind. Kilkenny had won a League and they were going well and I was going to come in. A lot of the players rang me and said they wanted me back in and (after consulting with Brian Cody) we decided I would return.''

He insists that he never expected anything soft, but he was coming back to win his place in the team. Buoyed up by the spirit and commitment of the panel, he had been delighted to be involved.

"I think if I hadn't come back I wouldn't have been able to get back. It's as simple as that.''

Asked if he believed he would just have slipped quietly into retirement, he replied: "I think so, because Kilkenny have a great team with a lot of young lads coming on.''

Nevertheless, at 31, he says he still hopes to continue for another season. Manager Brian Cody feels he has another four years in him.

Carey admitted: "At half time on Sunday, the one thing we were saying was that Clare would come at us sooner rather than later. We had done a lot of hurling in the first half and went in six points up which was a great lead. But we knew they would come at us.

"The important thing was not to do anything stupid, not to drive stupid wides when we had a chance to put it over the bar, not to be shooting from the sideline, not to be giving Davy Fitzgerald 'free' puck-outs when we got nothing out of it.

"It was obvious that for every point we would get, no matter what Clare were doing they would have to get two to be narrowing the gap. They got it back to three points, but it took them 10 or fifteen points to do that and then we got a break. Henry Shefflin got the ball and put it over the bar and the next one I won a free and Henry put that over the bar as well.

"That settled it down and we got it back to six points. From there on we were in control, but from there on that fifteen minutes spell was vital in that Clare were coming and that we held them out for that length of time.''

He shared the general delight that his long-time team-mate John Power made it on to the pitch in time before the final whistle.

"All the players were thrilled for him. Naturally when you are playing you are concentrating so much that it's passing you by a little bit. But, I was delighted for John and it would have been great to see him in for a few more minutes. Having said that he got on the field and it's his fourth medal."

Meantime, Henry Shefflin, chosen by viewers as RTÉ man-of-the-match in Sunday's Guinness All-Ireland final ahead of possibly stronger claims for Michael Kavanagh and Philly Larkin, yesterday paid tribute to goalkeeper James McGarry.

"He's one of the unsung heroes of the team, probably one of the most psyched-up lads in a dressingroom. He has been absolutely brilliant, with another clean sheet in the final. I was delighted for him.''

Shefflin agreed that their campaign had been notable for the fact that they had beaten two Munster teams. There was a message there, he agreed, for people who had been questioning Leinster hurling for the last few years.

"If you look at the minor finals for the last ten years, I'd say that there will be a lot of Leinster teams coming through to the All-Ireland finals. That will be great, but, we'd love to see teams like Dublin and Laois coming on, because we need it in Leinster. It was absolutely magnificent for us to beat Tipperary in the semi-final, but, it would have been no use if we had lost on Sunday.''

Tomorrow evening in Nowlan Park (6pm), Kilkenny will play county champions O'Loughlin Gaels in the annual GOAL challenge for their third-world charity.

The five O'Loughlins players in the panel will line out with their club.

Kilkenny Supporters Club are organising a benefit greyhound meeting in St James Park, Kilkenny, on Sunday night next. The first race will be at 7.30 and the admission price of 5 will include the race card. Additionally, they will be selling framed photographs of the senior team, to boost the fund-raising for their holiday fund. The destination has yet to be determined but it could be to the Caribbean.