Football must take backseat now for winning Ballymac skipper Keane 

Keane sent over two second-half points as Ballymacelligott saw out victory in style.

Cathal Dunne and Daire Keane of Ballymacelligott celebrate All-Ireland victory. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor

All’s well that end’s well for Ballymacelligott captain Daire Keane. As he raised aloft the All-Ireland junior championship cup on Sunday, the glory eased every ache, pang and throb he has endured these past few months.

Football will take a backseat for Keane over the first part of this year as he looks to address a long-standing foot injury that curbed his contributions to Ballymac’s efforts earlier in their winning run.

But nothing was going to stop him starting in Croke Park. “I don't care about my foot at the moment anyway,” he smiled. “That's the job for next week.

“It's not great, really. I won't be playing football for a few months. I need to give it a rest. I was told surgery is actually risky on it so it's just giving it time there now, three or four months off and then if needs be surgery maybe but we'll give it time in there first.” 

Keane sent over two second-half points as Ballymac put all their first-half woes behind him to see out victory in style. “We really had to grind it out. Two points down, you knew you had to put the foot to the metal and really go at them from the start of the second half.

“Over the moon is an understatement because it’s hard to put into words how delighted we are for the club. They are so many people involved there putting in shifts night and day. They're putting their shoulder to the wheel and we're just delighted that we can bring something to the table for them to be happy about.” 

Keane always felt Ballymac had the resources in reserve if they required them. “You look at our bench there, there's very good footballers on our bench and they're unlucky not to be starting," said the 25-year-old.

“No matter who it is, if anyone does go off injured, there is someone to replace them at the end of the day. We're very grateful for the boys that don't get game time too often and the boys that do come off the bench.” 

If Keane was pushing through the pain barrier, half-back Micheál Reidy was close to breaking the sound one as he returned from Dubai to lined out in games. That level of commitment was highlighted by his skipper.

“Micheál's a brilliant footballer, he was the backbone of our team for the last few years, so we're just delighted to get him home as much as possible whenever he could.”