“Keep your eye out for one guy, he is a lad from Raheny, Brian Howard.”
When Diarmuid Connolly said the words, on The Hill 16 Army podcast, the name ‘Brian Howard’ hit the mainstream.
The Dublin forward has been training with Howard for about a year now and has likened the Raheny clubman to Con O’Callaghan, the breakthrough sensation of 2017.
Howard can play in midfield or in the half-back or half-forward line and was one of the key players in Dessie Farrell’s All-Ireland-winning U21s panel. He also showed up at corner back in an O’Byrne Cup game earlier this year.
It is left half forward – in the No,10 jersey – that Jim Gavin has named Howard for Sunday’s Allianz Football League opener against Kildare at Croke Park [7pm this evening].
See the Dublin team named to take on @KildareGAA today in the first round of the #AllianzLeagues 💪 pic.twitter.com/Dg5WphA5pU
— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) January 27, 2018
Howard has been named in a strong forward unit that includes last year’s All-Ireland matchwinner Dean Rock, Ciarán Kilkenny, Bernard Brogan, Niall Scully and the highly rated Ballyboden player Colm Basquel.
Former Footballer of the Year Michael Darragh MacAuley is named in midfield alongside Brian Fenton while the likes of Darren Daly and David Byrne are getting a run-out in defence.
The Kildare team was named by Cian O’Neill on Friday evening:
Team News: Allianz Football League Round 1 – Kildare v Dublin⬇️
Best of luck to the team and management #SupportYourCountyhttps://t.co/7PXXQvAnEr pic.twitter.com/mtCvU0V4LF— Kildare GAA (@KildareGAA) January 26, 2018
Eoin Doyle will captain the Lilywhites wile Neil and Daniel Flynn are both included in the full forward line.
