‘I got the chance to say thanks to a few people’

BEING drafted into the Cork senior setup as a raw defender out of the minor ranks was a milestone in Michael Shields’ football career.

But there has been a flipside to being immersed in the inter-county game for the past six seasons. The lure of a J1 trip to the United States for a summer had to be resisted and any other travelling plans also had to be shelved as Cork have been playing championship football in August and September.

Having graduated from UCC last August, he spied an opportunity to head to Australia after the Cork team’s holiday to South Africa in January.