Diarmuid Connolly does what he does best on return for St Vincent’s

Not a bother to him.

Just as Dublin GAA fans, and the rest of the country, were getting used to the idea of not seeing much of Diarmuid Connolly this summer, he shows up gripping a hurl. On Thursday, Dublin football boss Jim Gavin confirmed that the 30-year-old would not be available for selection this summer. "Diarmuid, over the last number of weeks, just hasn't been available for club or county activity," he told RTÉ Sport. "We respect that decision and I hope everybody else does as well. We play an amateur sport.

"The door will always be open for Diarmuid and hopefully we see him back playing Gaelic games in the not too distant future."

That 'not too distant future' turned out to be a sunny Friday evening in Dublin as Connolly made an appearance for St Vincents' hurlers. His cameo was confirmed to SportsJOE by a reliable source. Vincents were taking on Craobh Ciaran in Dublin Senior Hurling League action and the dual-star came off the bench for five minutes, wearing No.23.

Long live the King pic.twitter.com/Bpd4iTyWtU

— Barry O'Carroll (@BarryOCarroll) May 4, 2018

And true to form, Connolly got on the ball often, got the better of his marker on a couple of occasions and made his presence felt. No fuss, no dramas. He simply went out and got on with it like he was never away. Most of the heavy lifting, and scoring  had been done by the time of his entrance but he will have been pleased to help out in the 1-18 to 1-11 victory . While a return to the Dublin footballers would appear unlikely, this summer, it is good to see him back out and playing for his beloved club again.