Local Dublin prospect looking to make an impact
by Mark O’Toole

There is a tendency when a sportsperson of any discipline or code achieves a certain goal to laud it as their ‘destiny’. This sort of conclusion reached by hyperbolic members of the media often detracts from the hours of painstaking toil, sweat, training and preparation required to perform at the highest level of any given sport. Tales are told about Christy Ring taking breaks at his job as a delivery man to practice all the different strokes, skills and techniques required in the art of hurling.

More recently England’s fly-half and Rugby World Cup talisman Jonny Wilkinson won renown for practising daily for hours upon hours. Not content with merely kicking the oval-shaped ball over the bar for goal but kicking it precisely between the middle of the two posts. Both the legendary Cork man and the rugby player from the south-east of England have in common their exceptional ability and hard work as well as their reputation as teetotallers.

Effort and diligence over the years was rewarded on a more local level in Dublin recently as well. In Dublin’s first outing this year in the Leinster quarter-finals and the 1-22 to 0-12 drubbing of Louth, the 56,496 fans in attendance at Croke Park witnessed the long-predicted championship debut of St. Brigid’s hot shot and Laurel Lodge native Paddy Andrews.

Although Andrews isn’t such a larger than life personality as those already mentioned, comparisons with the previous sporting luminaries can be borne out, as Paddy’s work-ethic and commitment has marked him out for years as one to watch.

Paddy went to primary school in Scoil Thomáis in Laurel Lodge, before moving on to Castleknock Community College where he represented the secondary school in a couple of Leinster Finals. While in his final year at the school he was selected to play in the under-age compromise rules series in Australia catching the eye while scoring 14 points in one particular test match.

His achievements in his final year were recognised with the appearance of current Dublin manager Paul ‘Pillar’ Caffrey to present him with the ‘Sportsperson of the Year’ award at his secondary school graduation. The personal attention from the Dublin set-up may have stemmed from his emergence as the star of a ‘golden generation’ of footballers at St. Brigids G.A.A. at the start of the decade who won the All-Ireland Under 14 Féile in 2001.

While continuing his academic education in DCU, his football education continued apace as he became a permanent fixture in the college’s football team, albeit playing at half-back and not his accustomed forward position. DCU were something close to a football equivalent of Real Madrid’s Galáctico’s with a veritable who’s who of top inter-county players.

But even among such illustrious playing talent, reports to Community Voice told of how he was one of the few players to emerge with credit in the college’s lacklustre round two Sigerson Cup defeat to Mark Vaughan’s DIT.

Ironically, it was Vaughan who made his name during last year’s Dublin campaign with a couple of free scoring performances, who Andrews replaced in his championship debut. It was inevitable that Andrews would play some part in this year’s championship, not looking out of place in the blue and navy in the National League and gaining many plaudits for his performance against Armagh.

Despite the multiple eight-week suspensions that ruled many Dublin footballers out of the championship opener following the infamous Parnell Park ‘brawl’ against Meath in April - for which Andrews himself received a four week suspension, harshly some might say - many casual followers were surprised that his debut came so soon against Louth. Andrews acquitted himself well against Louth with a polished performance, scoring one excellent point, being unfortunate to have a goal opportunity saved. It was notable that despite playing in the forwards he took up some excellent defensive positions from the forward line in the manner of Tyrone’s captain Brian Dooher.

Speaking exclusively to Community Voice Andrews declared himself reasonably satisfied with his performance in front of 56,496 at Croker. “It was good to be in there, I knew from about a week before that I was going to be involved and Pillar had a lot of faith in me. It was good to be in that sort of game with experienced guys who made it easier for me, like Collie Moran, Jayo (Sherlock) and Alan (Brogan). I would have liked to get on the ball a bit more, I worked hard but I’m certainly capable of a lot more than I produced but as far as debuts go it was okay and good to get it out of the way.”

Paddy was among familiar faces too. The Brogan brothers grew up around the corner while Ross McConnell lived less than a two minutes’ walk away from the Andrews’ household from which Paddy would have been able to call upon support from his elder brother Peadar who was on the Dublin panel for years. “I knew Bernard and Ross from DCU also, while Barry (Cahill) and Alan Brogan are mates with my brother.”

Speaking to Community Voice, Bernard Brogan, the Laurel Lodge-based forward who made a huge impact when introduced to the championship side last season and who returned to the starting line-up against Westmeath in place of Andrews had high words of praise for Paddy. “He’s an unbelievable talent and he’s shown it in training and he’s going to be an integral part of this Dublin panel for years to come.”

The tight-knit effort of the Dublin squad saw them win the Leinster title for the fourth year and in the most convincing fashion to date as they dominated Wexford. Although Paddy didn’t feature in the game the contributions made by himself, Eamon Fennell, Diarmuid Connolly, Kevin Nolan and other newcomers to the squad have shown have paid dividends and for the Dublin stock to continue to rise and reach its target of an All-Ireland victory in September, this year’s renewed emphasis on squad effort will have to continue.

Despite the euphoria of the Leinster championship, Andrews is staying grounded and has his eyes fixed on his personal and collective goals with Dublin. “Everyone knows what the aim of this Dublin side is. My own personal aim is to try and get as much game time this year as possible. This year it will be difficult as one of the great strengths of this team is its depth.”

 

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