By John Harrington

Christmas came a couple of days early for corner-forwards nation-wide when news broke on December 23 that Longford corner-back Dermot Brady was finally hanging up his inter-county boots.

The 35-year-old Longford Slashers Club-man made his Longford championship debut against Wicklow in 2001, and over the course of a 17-year inter-county career established himself as one of the best defenders in the country.

A stocky, sticky defender who loved nothing more than making a corner-forward’s life miserable, he also had the football ability to charge out of defence and launch counter-attacks.

He looked like he had plenty of gas still left in the tank last summer, but ultimately Brady decided it would be best to bow out while still on top.

“For the last couple of years I had been wondering would I come back, but I was still enjoying it so I kept coming back for more,” he told GAA.ie.

“It wasn't so much that I wanted to win something, it just meant an awful lot to me to wear that Longford jersey. I just loved it, really. I was lucky enough too with injuries over the years, I never had a serious one, and that was a big factor with being able to go on as long as I did.

“I just felt I'd be long enough sitting on the sideline so I might as well keep going for as long as I could.

“I had been humming and hawing at the end of 2016 but went again and didn't actually think things would go as well for me as they did last year.

“After that I felt I might as well go now before it gets to the stage where you're not wanted anymore. I'd have no regrets, I had some great days with Longford.”

Brady won a Division 4 League title with Longford in 2011 and a Division 3 League title in 2012, and when he looks back on his championship career the 2006 campaign stands out as an obvious highlight.

That year Longford came very close to causing an almighty upset in the Leinster quarter-final against Dublin before ultimately losing by just two points.

They dusted themselves down and embarked on a run through the qualifiers that saw them beat Waterford, Tipperary, and Derry before bowing out after putting up a brave fight against a Kieran Donaghy inspired Kerry in Killarney.

“Yeah, 2006 would have been one of the highlights alright,” said Brady.

“There was around 15,000 in Pearse Park that day against Dublin and a great atmosphere. It was a lovely, sunny day and we came close to causing an upset.

“We had a good run through the qualifiers afterwards as well, ending with that match against Kerry down in Killarney.

“I suppose that will be remembered as the day they put in Kieran Donaghy at full-forward for the first time and he made his name.”

Over the years, Longford would gain a well-deserved reputation for being All-Ireland Qualifier specialists.

Brady played on Longford teams that beat Derry three times, and Mayo and Down once each, but one of the sweetest victories of all was last year’s upset against Monaghan.

“Yeah, that was definitely one of the great days, and we always backed ourselves to pull off something like that in the Qualifiers,” said Brady.

“We've never seemed to do that well in Leinster, we've never won that many games in Leinster at all. I don’t know what it was about the qualifiers, but we just used to let the shackles off us.

“Once we'd get a team in Longford and get a win the confidence would start flowing and you wouldn't know where it would take you after that.

“They were definitely the most enjoyable days, those wins in the Qualifiers against the big teams.”

The Longford full-back line will look a little less secure without Brady manning his corner this year.

And even though he’s content with his decision to  retire, he admits it’ll be tough to watch his former team-mates from the sidelines when they play Meath in the Leinster Quarter-Final this summer.

“I don't miss training at this time of the year and I doubt I'll mind watching them play in the League too much,” he said.

“But when the game against Meath comes around and I'm on the other side of the wire it might be tough alright and I'll want to be out there again.”

If he ever changes his mind, no doubt Longford would love to still have him.