McCarthy chip off the old block

Four months on, James McCarthy still doesn’t know what he did wrong.

Attempting to shrug off Alan Freeman in the aborted league game in Castlebar, his elbow caught the Mayo forward’s face and that was enough for referee Marty Duffy to issue a red card.

Despite an appeal, the Ballymun Kickhams man picked up a one-match ban, a punishment which continues to puzzle him.

“I didn’t think there was much in it. I was just trying to shake the guy off. I was surprised,” he said. “To be honest I don’t think I did much wrong.”

You believe him. McCarthy is the sort of self-deprecating fella who you can easily warm to. When he talks about his wonder goal against Wexford in last year’s Leinster final, he is brief but also humble with detail.

“It just opened up for me. I kept going and closed my eyes!”

Maybe some of it comes from being his father’s son. McCarthy may have an All-Ireland medal to his name but John has three. The moniker of being a chip off the old block is always there. The shadow too.

“Yeah sometimes you’d be described as ‘son’ a lot when you’re starting off. But it didn’t really bother me at all. I used it as a help more than anything. It supported me mostly.”

Starting off, Kevin Heffernan’s left corner-forward was full of advice for his young fella. Now? Not so much.

“Starting off he used to wreck my head in a way. He’s laid off a bit now! We might go for a walk before a game and have a chat.

“He always keeps me on my toes. He has always been great growing up when I’ve asked for advice. He’s been a big help to me. He’s been there and done that as well.”

That Wexford game last year was something of a coming of age game for McCarthy. The goal crowned a performance that helped him cement a spot in the back line for the remainder of their unforgettable campaign.

“I guess I got two games under my belt and got a bit more confidence. I played one of my better games against Wexford last year and was happy enough with it.”

He grew from there to earn an All Star nomination but this past spring brought McCarthy and his team-mates back down to earth.

Four defeats in seven games was a poor return for a team of Dublin’s ilk. It was just as well the answers for their decline were easily found.

“We just talked about our work-rate and talked about how much we need it. Without that, we were a poor team this year and so many teams pipped us in the league.

“We said we had to get back to our foundation, which is our work-rate, and to bring our intensity up. The rest would follow after.”

By the time the Louth game came around, there was little apprehension in the team. Like several other teams, they went to Fota Island Resort for a few days’ torturous boot-camp where they vomited and then vomited some more.

With their 16-point win in that Leinster quarter-final, their entire league campaign was forgotten. But with little in the way of a challenge and Wexford having had four consecutive close clashes with Longford, is there a fear Dublin might not be battle-hardened?

“I think Louth are a lot better than they played against us that day,” insisted McCarthy. “They finished third or fourth in Division 2, didn’t they? They just had one of those off days. Training’s been pretty intense over the past few weeks so I think we should be okay.”

Even though Dublin have come away with wins in the counties’ last two championship meetings, McCarthy says he’s yet to be part of a group that has put together a performance against Wexford.

“Last year’s was a very tough game, and we didn’t play particularly well either. Two years ago, as well.

“It just shows if we’re any way off our game, they will beat us. They should have beaten us over the past two years.”

It might seem like McCarthy is talking Wexford up but he’s learned that they are a team to respect.

“I think Wexford are a very strong, fit team. They’re very quick, have good backs and they’ve got a powerful midfield.

“And they have the good forwards in there to punish you. Like, if we give away any frees inside 50 yards, Ben Brosnan’s going to kick them over.

“So our attacking is going to have to be very good, and we can’t give away frees. We gave away a lot of frees in the last game so we have things to work on.”