Seanie Johnston, the Cavan football player who caused controversy by transferring to Kildare in 2012, has insisted his colleagues had no issues with him returning to the county fold.
Johnston, one of Gaelic football’s most talented forwards prior to his inter-county switch, started his first competitive game for Cavan in five years on Sunday and oozed quality as he helped himself to a six-point haul against Meath.
It was a remarkable Allianz league Division 2 encounter, as Cavan trailed by eight points at one stage before recovering to win by seven, with Johnston’s 39th minute score beginning their revival.
Johnston played for Kildare for two seasons, 2012 and 2013, before returning to club football in Cavan in late 2013. However, Terry Hyland, the Cavan manager, did not bring him back into his squad until last winter.
At 31, Johnston agreed that it is a second coming of sorts for him and he tantalised supporters by stating that he is just ‘scratching the surface’ of what he can contribute, despite Sunday’s excellent performance against Meath.
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The Cavan Gaels player clearly still has plenty left to offer and his colleagues appear to have welcomed him warmly despite famously scoring against Cavan for Kildare in the 2012 Championship.
Asked if there was acrimony among the players about his return, Johnston shook his head.
“No, I have to say, their full focus is on playing well for Cavan and getting results for the team and that’s what I’m focused on as well,” Johnston said. “If we can continue to work hard, then the results will come for us.”
Johnston agreed that it does feel like a second coming with his county after the winter recall.
“Yeah, it’s a little like that. All I can do is keep the head down and try as hard as I can, and try to contribute to the lads on the field and that’s what I’m doing, just keeping the head down and working hard,” he added.
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Johnston impressed Hyland with his club form, and was asked back into the county fold in December, although admitted he thought the recall mightn’t happen for him because of his age.
“At my age, you’re starting to wonder will you get back so I was just delighted to be asked back and to be able to contribute on the field of play against Meath. It was just about getting the win and getting the two points on the board.”
Johnston didn’t start in the losses to Derry and Tyrone in Division 2, but with Meath’s orthodox defence more likely to offer up room to attackers, he was thrown the number 15 jersey last Sunday.
He repaid Hyland with a strong display which yielded six points and he also struck the cross bar in the first-half with a vicious shot.
“I’m probably still only around 65, 70 per cent of where I want to be but I’m improving week on week and my ankle, which had been injured, feels a lot stronger.
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“I’m just delighted to be back and able to contribute. There’s a great group of lads there and they put a lot of chances on a plate for me against Meath. That’s my job to knock the points over. The lads out the field in the second-half really stood up and were exceptional.”
Aside from Division 2 leaders Tyrone, who have six points, the rest of the teams are either on four, or two, points so promotion still isn’t out of the question for Cavan.
“We played two strong teams in the first two games, Derry and Tyrone, and were only beaten by a point or two in each of those games,” Johnston noted. “But we need to start coming out on the right side of those results more often. With this in mind, the Meath win was a stepping stone and hopefully we can get another win and keep that trend going. Who knows where it will take us?”