Dublin first to ring out the old and ring in the new

It will only be a matter of hours before the beginning of the New Year and, as if on cue, Dublin football manager Jim Gavin is sparing precious few of his All-Ireland winners the timely recall to duty.

Indeed the very scheduling of the annual Dubs Stars Challenge – staged this evening under the floodlights at Gavin’s own club, Round Tower in Clondalkin, instead of the traditional date of January 1st – suggests an even earlier addressing of any post All-Ireland hangover, or at least helping to avoid one on New Year’s Day itself.

There are some notable exceptions – no Footballer of the Year Michael Darragh Macauley, no Bernard Brogan, and still no sign of Alan Brogan yet, either – although there are some notable inclusions, too.

Goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton will again captain the team, presumably ending any further talk of the 32-year-old retiring.

Likewise former captain Bryan Cullen, still only 29, is named at centre back, while there is also a first start under Gavin for 2011 All-Ireland-winning defender Michael Fitzsimons.

Also down on Gavin's start sheet are Jack McCaffrey, Ciarán Kilkenny, and Paul Mannion (all of whom also started the All-Ireland final win over Mayo last September), while the Dubs Stars selection, made up of the players judged to have performed best in the Dublin club championship, includes All-Ireland winners Diarmuid Connolly, James McCarthy, Dean Rock and Kevin McManamon.

Ruled out
Some, such as defender Rory O'Carroll, are ruled out through injury, as Gavin clearly marks the last day of 2013 as the official end of the All-Ireland -winning celebration.

Indeed Dublin are out again just five days later when they face Westmeath (now managed by former Dublin All-Ireland winner Paul Bealin) in the first round of the O’Byrne Cup – the only title, as it turned out, which eluded Dublin in 2013.

This evening’s Dubs Stars challenge is again a double-bill with Anthony Daly’s Dublin’s hurlers in action first (5.0), followed the footballers (7.0).

Daly has been a little more experimental with his selection, giving a first start to Cuala’s Barry Connolly, a son of Galway legend Joe, and also Matthew McCaffrey, younger brother of this year’s Leinster-winning captain Johnny. Cian O’Callaghan is also given his chance at full back, while Liam Rushe and Danny Sutcliffe are named among the substitutes.

For the majority of other counties, meanwhile, the new football season gets underway the first weekend of the New Year with the start of the four provincial tournaments in Leinster (O’Byrne Cup), Ulster (Dr McKenna Cup), Connacht (the FBD League), and Munster (McGrath Cup).

Like last year, the O'Byrne Cup will be played on a round-robin basis, with four groups of four teams: 2012 champions Kildare begin the defence of their title, the first competitive game for new manager Jason Ryan, at home to Athlone IT on Sunday. There are also first competitive starts for new Laois manager Tomas Ó Flatharta (away to Wexford) and new Longford manager Jack Sheedy (away to Carlow).

Their boycott
Any hopes of a proper McGrath Cup were dashed just before Christmas, however, when Tipperary confirmed that they would not be reconsidering their boycott, along with Limerick, Waterford and Clare – all in protest of the Munster Council's decision to revert to a seeded championship, whereby Cork and Kerry were kept on opposite sides of the draw.

Limerick’s footballers prompted the boycott and the other three counties quickly followed suit, and despite the suggestion that the Limerick County Board might still enter a team, the boycott remained. The Munster Council then considered scrapping the competition, but instead have pressed ahead with just four quarter-finals this Sunday featuring Kerry against IT Tralee, CIT against Mary Immaculate, Cork against Limerick IT, and UL against UCC.

There is still the lingering threat of these four counties boycotting the 2015 Munster championship if the Kerry-Cork seeding is not reversed, although that decision won't be formally made until some time next year. So, both new Clare football manager Colm Collins and new Limerick football manager John Brudair will have to wait until the start of the Allianz Football League before they get their first taste of competitive action in 2014.
DUBLIN SF (v Dubs Stars): S Cluxton (Parnell's); D Byrne (Naomh Olaf), K O'Brien (Naomh Mearnóg), M Fitzsimons (Cuala); N Devereux (Ballinteer St John's), B Cullen (Skerries Harps), J McCaffrey (Clontarf); D O'Mahony (Ballyboden St Enda's), S Carthy (Naomh Mearnóg); C Walsh (St Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh), C Kilkenny (Castleknock), J Whelan (Ballymun Kickhams); P Mannion (Kilmacud Crokes), C Reddin (St Maur's), P Ryan (St Brigid's).
DUBS STARS SF : M Savage (St Vincent's); S George (Ballymun Kickhams), R McDaid (Ballyboden St Enda's), H Gill (St Vincent's); A Hubbard (Ballymun Kickhams), C Guckian (St Jude's), M Concarr (St Vincent's); D Byrne (Ballymun Kickhams), J McCarthy (Ballymun K'hams); G Burke (St Vincent's), D Connolly (St Vincent's), D Rock (Ballymun Kickhams); E Keating (St Sylvester's), K McManamon (St Jude's), T Quinn (St Vincent's).
DUBLIN SH (v Dubs Stars): S Chester (Craobh Chiaráin), S Timlin (Ballyboden St Enda's), C O'Callaghan (Cuala), C McCormack (Ballyboden St Enda's); S Hiney (Ballyboden St Enda's), M Carton (O'Toole's), M McCaffrey (Lucan); K Byrne (Crumlin), M Quilty (Na Fianna); B Connolly (Cuala), R O'Dwyer (Kilmacud Crokes), S McGrath (Kilmacud Crokes); D O'Callaghan (St Mark's), D Treacy (Cuala), M Schutte (Cuala).
DUBS STARS SH: G Maguire (Ballyboden St Enda's); S O'Connor (Ballyboden St Enda's), P Kelly (Lucan Sarsfields), J Doughan (Kilmacud Crokes); S Durkin (Ballyboden St Enda's), R Lambert (Lucan Sarsfields), C Robinson (Ballyboden St Enda's); N McMorrow (Ballyboden St Enda's), J McCaffrey (Lucan); C Keaney (Ballyboden St Enda's), S Stapleton (St Patrick's), P Winters (St Brigid's); P Ryan (Ballyboden St Enda's), A McCrabbe (Craobh Chiarain), A McGreal (Crumlin).