Diarmuid Connolly: Dublin's enigmatic genius who bows out at the top
Connolly announced his intercounty retirement on Tuesday night, aged 33
Thursday 1 October 2020 15:40, UK
When Jim Gavin announced the news of Diarmuid Connolly's return in the wake of last summer's Super 8s win over Cork, every GAA follower sat up and took notice.
No matter how much Dublin tried to play down the news, burying it half-way through a run-of-the-mill fitness update on an interview with the county's inhouse media channels, it sparked a huge reaction.
Gavin had casually delivered the news: "We've got James McCarthy back on the pitch, Eoin Murchan, Jonny Cooper. Diarmuid Connolly is back training with us, Robbie McDaid is back. Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne is with the U20s, Darren Gavin is back this week. So there is a whole host of players who are returning to play..."
And although it was released mere hours before Donegal vs Meath, Kerry vs Mayo along with two All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals, news of the the St Vincents star's return still elbowed its way onto the back pages the following morning.
Connolly's absence on the intercounty stage since February 2018 had merely added to his mystique. The most talked about footballer in the game was back on its biggest stage.
His return eventually came in the last match of the Super 8s - a 'dead rubber' win over Tyrone in Omagh, with Connolly sitting deep and nonchalantly spraying the ball around the field with pinpoint accuracy.
Cameos in the win over Mayo and draw with Kerry followed, before he was called upon in earnest.
In the replay, Gavin turned to the enigmatic forward at the break after Jack McCaffrey's injury, and Connolly delivered a masterclass. It was his inch-perfect 40-yard pass to Ciarán Kilkenny that drew attention, but he was a domineering presence on the field throughout the entire second-half. Taking the fight to Kerry, he very nearly rattled the net himself in injury-time after a driving run forward, only to be denied by a remarkable reflex save from Shane Ryan.
Would Dublin have finished their decade of dominance with a fifth consecutive All-Ireland title were it not for Connolly? Possibly so.
But there is no doubting; they would not have kicked it off with a Sam Maguire triumph without the magic of 'Dermo'.
Arguably his finest day in blue came in 2011. Before the breakthrough. Anybody who assembled in Croke Park on a wet Saturday evening for the All-Ireland quarter-final between Dublin and Tyrone were treated to a masterclass.
Left foot, right foot, even when on the back foot. Every time Connolly got the ball, the umpires found themselves scurrying for white flags within seconds. He finished with seven points, in a 0-22 to 0-15 win.
His contributions were vital in ensuring Sam Maguire would winter Liffey-side in 2011 and 2013, but he wasn't recognised for individual honours until 2014.
Fresh from an All-Ireland club final tour de force in which he scored 2-5 from play against Castlebar Mitchels, he excelled upon his return to the intercounty fold to earn his first All-Star award. And true to form, when things were crumbling around Dublin in their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Donegal that year, it was Connolly who led the fight for the men from the capital, scoring five from play.
On the occasion of Dublin's lowest on-field moment of the decade, it was Connolly who drove forward.
All-Ireland titles and another All-Star followed. Crucial scores, individual displays, and tussles with Lee Keegan. He was a marked man for any opposition.
And while his game-time had been limited since an incident with an official during the 2017 Leinster Championship, his aura has not waned a single bit. He dug the side out of a hole in the 2017 decider against Mayo, but opted out of the 2018 championship season to go travelling.
Images of him in action Stateside in 2018 cropped up as the Gavin's Dubs proved they could win an All-Ireland without him.
But although 2018 showed the men from the capital could get over the line in his absence, it's clear they would not have found themselves in such a position of ascendancy were it not for his efforts throughout the previous decade.
Connolly's retirement announcement on Tuesday night heralds the end of an era for Dublin football.
As Dessie Farrell brings the side forward into a new decade, he must do so without one of the most naturally-gifted footballers the game has seen.
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