Football

Armagh's Kevin Dyas on comeback trail after injury

Kevin Dyas is hoping to be back in action for Armagh's National League campaign
Kevin Dyas is hoping to be back in action for Armagh's National League campaign Kevin Dyas is hoping to be back in action for Armagh's National League campaign

ARMAGH’S Kevin Dyas is on the comeback trail from his latest injury nightmare - six months after being told his Gaelic football career could be over at the age of just 28.

The talented half-forward hopes to give Orchard boss Kieran McGeeney a huge boost by returning to inter-county duty during next year’s National League, having been forced to watch from the sidelines for the past 15 months.

Dyas was forced to have the lateral meniscus removed from his right knee in the summer of 2015 after a seemingly innocuous training ground tangle of legs with team-mate Jamie Clarke led to him being unable to run “without the knee blowing up like a balloon”.

With little progress being made in the six months after that operation, former Aussie Rules player Dyas was stunned to be told retirement might be his only option: “It was a bit of a shock to the system,” said the Dublin-based Dromintee man, who transferred to Kilmacud Croke’s last year.

“My career hasn’t progressed as I’d have liked it to, injuries have held me back quite a bit. The hamstring injury I picked up in Australia took two or three years out of my career, this knee injury has taken two seasons out of my career so far.

“I’m obviously getting older and I want to finish up on my own terms and try and get a bit of success. As soon as the surgeon started mentioning retirement, it really hit me that I definitely would not like to go out on those terms.”

However, a visit to Dr Andy Williams at London’s Fortius Clinic saw him undergo a complicated microfracture procedure last May in a final bid to prolong his career: “They basically drill tiny holes into the knee and the blood produced forms a scab within the knee and forms a replacement for the lost cartilage,” he says.

After a frustrating four months of not being able to work, drive or walk without crutches, Dyas finally started his rehab last month and is currently spending four hours a day in the gym with Armagh physio Paul Carragher.

“I’m there from 6.30 until 8.30 before work and then about 6.30 until 8.30 after work in the evening and a lot of what we’re doing is based around flexibility - a lot of foam rolling, glute work, balance work and a lot of strengthening around the knee.

“You don’t want the joint dealing with undue pressure as well, so you have to be as lean as possible. When you run, you can put up to 10 times your bodyweight through your knee joint, so I’ve gone from 85 kilos to 77. It’s probably the lightest I’ve been since my schooldays.”

Dyas will travel back to London in December to talk to Dr Williams again and is hopeful he will have made enough progress to begin running around the turn of the year, before getting involved with Armagh again in the spring.

“They said it would be a minimum of nine months from the operation, so I could be back playing around the middle of the league. I’ll maybe miss the first couple of games,” said Dyas.

“All being well - and everything is going well - I would be back for that. In my head, I believe I will get back from this. Other people have, so there’s no reason why I can’t.”