Brian Howard: Dublin production line has not stalled

The decorated Dublin midfielder is now focussed on breaking the glass ceiling with his club Raheny

Fri, 23 Aug, 2024 - 06:34

Paul Keane

He's won virtually everything in the game but decorated Dublin defender Brian Howard is desperate to push on with his club Raheny now.

The north Dublin outfit have never won the county title yet came so close to smashing through that glass ceiling in 2023.

With a star studded team including two-time Footballer of the Year Brian Fenton, they led Kilmacud Crokes by three points deep into injury time in the semi-finals.

Luke Ward eventually hit an equalising goal that forced extra-time and Crokes won the game on penalties, going on to retain their county and provincial titles.

Raheny are back again this season but are up against it ahead of tomorrow's do-or-die Go-Ahead Dublin SFC group game with Lucan Sarsfields (O'Toole Park, 5.30pm).

Having already been beaten by Na Fianna in the four-team Group 2, a top-two finish and qualification for the quarter-finals could be out of Raheny's hands if they lose again.

Mayo's Rob Hennelly is expected to return in goals after missing the Na Fianna game to perform best man duties at Aidan O'Shea's wedding while Dublin defender Sean MacMahon could feature after illness too.

"It was just a bit of inexperience in the dying stages," said Howard of last year's failure to beat Crokes. "They had a free shot from around the penalty spot and we all just went back onto the line. Your man, Luke Ward, he buried it, he took it well. Unfortunately I was injured all last season so I was watching it from the sideline.

"When I thought we were going to win that game and were getting to the final, I had a massive brace on my leg but I was thinking, 'I could be out of this in two weeks for the final'.

"It was just unfortunate. We just came up a bit short last year but hopefully we can build on it and plough on."

After defeat to Na Fianna, Raheny have drifted out to 33/1 for the Dublin title but they'll fancy their chances of bouncing back strongly and reaching the knock-out stages at least.

"Na Fianna would be one of the big dogs in Dublin football as we all know," said Howard. "We gave a good account of ourselves in the second-half, just fell short by four points. That was without Sean MacMahon or Rob Hennelly in nets, so that wasn't actually too bad and we can hopefully build on that for the Lucan and Castleknock games."

When their campaign ends, Howard is looking forward to finally getting a full pre-season with Dublin. A bad knee injury this time last year cost him six months and he didn't return until Round 3 of the National League with Dublin. The previous winter he travelled extensively and missed half of the league.

"When you go back to Dublin you just want to put your best foot forward and you want to go back in as best shape as you can," said the five-time All-Ireland winner and twice All-Star. "That's the plan for this winter, after the club."

Dublin suffered a first All-Ireland quarter-final loss since 2009 when they were defeated by Galway. There are no guarantees that veteran performers like Stephen Cluxton, James McCarthy, Michael Fitzsimons and Jack McCaffrey will be back in 2025.

What's certain for Howard is that Dublin have the players coming through at the other end.

Asked if their production line of talent has stalled, he said: "No, I wouldn't say that. I think you see with the likes of Lee Gannon, he was badly missed this year, Cian Murphy for the last few games as well. If they were there it could have been a different story and I think then some of the younger lads, Luke Breathnach, Killian McGinnis, Lorcan O'Dell to an extent, these are top, top footballers and I do think next year you'll see a lot of them and you will see what we're seeing internally about the qualities they have and the standards they can play at."

Another figure that Dublin missed in 2024 was Pat Gilroy, the former manager who was credited with playing a key role behind the scenes when he returned for 2023.

"He was missed this year, yes, he was missed purely off his experience but that wasn't a factor in why we felt short by any means," said Howard.