A long journey to the Aviva Stadium

ASK Phillip ‘Philly’ Hughes if it might be disrespectful to call him a journeyman and the Shelbourne striker cheerfully demurs.

“No, no, it’s not,” he smiles. “I’ve been knocking around a lot of clubs. I’ve made a lot of friends out of the game. “I’ve no regrets. I’ve enjoyed it. I think you’d be quicker naming teams I haven’t played for.”

Which is not a whole heap of an exaggeration considering that he’s pulled on his shooting boots for, among others, St Francis, St Pats, Kilkenny City, Kildare County, Dublin City, UCD, Dundalk, Monaghan Utd and, now for a second time, Shels.