Ballyboden St Enda’s captain Shane Clayton will be available for Saturday’s Leinster club senior football final against Athy at Croke Park.
Clayton has not played since the Dublin county final in October when he was forced off injured after only three minutes.
The defender travelled to Wexford for Ballyboden’s Leinster quarter-final win over Castletown last month and was named at full back in the matchday team for last Saturday’s victory over Tullamore in O’Connor Park.
But he did not feature in either game, with Ryan Baynes lining out in the full-back line on both occasions as part of a defensive reshuffle.
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Baynes, originally from Burrishoole in Co Mayo, also replaced Clayton in the early stages of the county final and impressed during their provincial campaign.
But back in fighting form, Clayton – an All-Ireland under-21 winner with Dublin in 2017 – will be battling to regain his starting place.
Dublin outfits have previously been a dominant force in the Leinster senior club football championship.
Only three times since 2010 has the competition been won by a club from outside of the capital – Westmeath’s Garrycastle in 2011, Kildare’s Moorefield in 2017 and Longford’s Mullinalaghta in 2018.
Aside from those rare breakthrough wins, the title has been shared around Dublin by Kilmacud Crokes (2010, 2021, 2022, 2023), St Vincent’s (2013, 2014, 2016), Ballyboden (2015, 2019), Ballymun Kickhams (2012) and Cuala (2024).
In total, Dublin clubs have claimed 26 Leinster football titles, almost on par with the combined 28 titles achieved by other counties.
Gracefield won the first Leinster club title in 1971, beating Louth’s Newtown Blues in the final. St Vincent’s were the first Dublin side to win the provincial crown, claiming the silverware two years later.
Laois are second the roll of honour in terms of counties behind Dublin, all seven of the counties’ provincial club football crowns mined by Portlaoise.
Athy will be contesting their first ever Leinster senior club football final on Saturday, their fellow Kildare club Naas having lost provincial deciders to Kilmacud Crokes in 2021 and 2023.
Ballyboden are appearing in their third final, having beaten Portlaoise in 2015 (on their way to an All-Ireland title) and Carlow’s Éire Óg in 2019. But having failed to come out of Dublin since 2019, Ballyboden manager Eamon O’Reilly says there’s been no talk of provincial titles.
“We have so many leaders in our dressingroom that the lads wouldn’t be looking that far ahead,” said O’Reilly. “We’ve earned the right to get into a final, that’s all we’ve earned.
“So, until we actually win one, we haven’t really earned the right to start talking about Leinsters or anything like that.”
One of the added bonuses from last Saturday’s 15-point semi-final win over Tullamore was Ballyboden’s ability to sub off several key players early with an eye to the final.
Alex Gavin (who had picked up a yellow card), Patrick Dunleavy, Colm Basquel, Ryan Basquel and Peter Healy were all hauled ashore before the long whistle.
“Realistically, we have 24, 25 lads, and even more, probably 28, 29 lads, that have played in the championship this year to date,” added O’Reilly.
“And every one of our lads, including the guys that are outside that, are pushing hard for a position. So, guys have trained really well and they deserve their opportunity and that’s why they were in.
“Different lads are bringing it in different days, throughout the championship we’ve had guys stand up all the time.
“When the lads play football, they play really, really good football, but it’s about getting that 60-minute performance, which isn’t easy.”
