ELEVEN years after making his Armagh debut under Joe Kernan, Kevin Dyas has decided to call time on his county career.
When fit and healthy, the talented centre-forward was a key player for the Orchardmen but a string of injuries have limited his appearances – especially in recent years.
At 31, he admits it was a tough call to make after deciding to step away from the county.
“I met with Kieran [McGeeney] about a month ago and told him I’d decided to pack it in, unfortunately,” said the Dromintee man.
“It’s not what I wanted, and ideally I’d still be playing on but I just can’t really justify to myself the effort and the time given my limitations.
“These days it’s a tough enough game to be good at and to play if you’re at the peak of your powers, let alone when your body’s just hanging on by a thread. My body just isn’t in a position to keep doing what I’m doing.
“Also, I’m not getting any younger and Armagh have a good young bunch of lads there. So even if I was pushing and doing well, do you really get as much value out of bringing on somebody who’s injury prone and at the end of their career as you would some lad who’s young, fit and eager?
“I can look at myself in the mirror and know I’ve done as much as I could, but it just wasn’t enough. It just came up short.”
