'Elder statesman' Craig Dias still dreaming of glory with Kilmacud Crokes

There are two games that Craig Dias admits still give him nightmares.

The most recent of these was the 2018 Leinster final. That was a day for the underdog, and a fantastic achievement for the half-parish club of Mullinalaghta to defeat the goliath that is Kilmacud Crokes, but one to remember for all the wrong reasons for the Stillorgan men.

That wrong has arguably already been righted, in as much as it can be, with provincial success earlier this month against Naas.

The other match that leaves Dias struggling for shut eye is an All-Ireland semi-final played 11 years ago. Crokes had beaten Crossmaglen in the 2009 All-Ireland final, but the Armagh champions got their revenge in the semi two years later.

Saturday's semi-final meeting with Roscommon champions Pádraig Pearses will give the 31-year-old, and some of his colleagues, the chance to put that other piece of unfinished business to bed.

"Both of those games I felt we left out on the pitch," he says.

"Mullinalaghta was probably our fault. The Crossmaglen game, there were two sendings off, one dubious. We were really in that game. We came flying out of the blocks and to lose the way we did, it still keeps me up.

"The chance to go over old ground again on Saturday; there's something in it for myself, Mark Vaughan and Rory O'Carroll."

If Crokes are to get over the line and claim a third Andy Merrigan Cup next month, they're likely to have to do it without one of the best forwards in the game.

Paul Mannion faced surgery for a leg injury in the week of the Leinster final victory over Naas earlier this month, and Dias is unsure of when his fellow former St Benildus College team-mate will be back on the field.

"He's a 10x player," he says. "His output is incredible.

"He's putting up