Replacing Stephen Cluxton long term is a riddle Dubs are still strugaling to solve

THRUSTING a player into the breach to start a Championship game who hasn't experienced a minute of League football is an indicator of the wider goalkeeper issues facing Dublin.

- BY JOHN O'DOWD

Ballyboden’s Hugh O'Sullivan (22) is a name that’s not familiar to many outside the capital - and indeed inside the capital.

O'Sullivan’s debut on Sunday was an indicator of where the Leinster Championship lies. Better to test a relative rookie in a provincial quarter-final than in Division 1 of the League.

Dessie Farrell said afterwards that Stephen Cluxton was due to play the League game against Tyrone but picked up an injury, which again ruled him out at the weekend.

At 43, those knocks are likely to become more frequent and the man who many viewed as his natural successor, Evan Comerford, also has a history of serious injury problems.

Comerford (right) was the first choice keeper for the 2021 and 2022 All-Ireland campaigns before six-time All-Ireland winning skipper Cluxton returned in 2023 to take over again.

Last year, Na Fianna’s David O'Hanlon showed plenty of promise but he’s not involved this season.

O'Sullivan is the second goalkeeper parachuted into the Dublin team this year after St. Brigid’s Gavin Sheridan.