From off-Broadway to centre stage for 'phenomonal' Cormac Costello

From being an option held in reserve during Dublin's all-conquering run, Cormac Costello has assumed the mantle as the team’s most important forward this season, according to Lee Keegan.

The Whitehall Colmcille man made his senior bow a decade ago as Jim Gavin began to assemble perhaps the greatest football side seen at inter-county level.

Celebrating his 29th birthday today, Costello has seven Celtic Crosses to his name, but with a whole host of decorated attackers competing for places up front, he has often had to make do as an impact sub. Other times he’s been used even more sparingly.

Including replays, the clash with Kerry at the end of the month will be his 10th senior final, but likely to be the first he will start.

In 2013, 2015 and 2016 (draw) he didn’t appear at all. He turned the 2016 replay in Dublin’s favour against Mayo with three crucial points off the bench, yet the following year he came on in the fourth minute of injury time as Mayo were edged out yet again.

Last time out in 2020 he appeared in the final minute as the Dubs clinched the six in a row, but fast forward three years and he has arguably been Dessie Farrell’s most consistent player this year.

Player of the match in the semi-final win over Monaghan, he was in sublime form in the quarter-final victory over Mayo also, notching a dozen points across both games while outscoring the likes of Con O'Callaghan, continuing on his impressive early season form despite the team, at times, struggling to hit the heights of previous years.

With Dean Rock’s days as a starter seemingly over, Costello’s reliance from placed balls has also been evident, and speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, former Mayo defender Keegan says that the Dublin forward is not getting the