CONFIRMATION OF THE pre-match change over the tannoy brought one of the biggest cheers of the evening.

Dublin number 16, Stephen Cluxton, for one, Evan Comerford.

The legendary goalkeeper would make his first appearance of the 2024 season in the Leinster quarter-final against Meath at Croke Park.

This was an expected move. It was widely known Cluxton was back. Eagle-eyed viewers spotted him in the warm-up against Roscommon in February, but he had yet to feature in a match day squad.

Dessie Farrell moved to crystalise matters when he named the nine-time All-Ireland winner in his 40-man championship panel last week. 

It was ultimately a case of when, not if, he would replace Comerford or David O’Hanlon between the posts.

The 42-year-old waltzed out onto the pitch for the warm-up. 

This seasonal return was nowhere near as dramatic as last year’s, but Cluxton plainly moved through the gears like he had never been away.

He was warmly welcomed by The Hill, the Dublin faithful saluting their great shot-stopper from the moment he set foot on the pitch. Mick Fitzsimons was another greeted accordingly as he made his seasonal return, while James McCarthy received a huge reception on his introduction in the 50th minute. 

Cluxton traipsed down to the Canal End goal before throw-in, his luminous orange gloves particularly striking.

They were kept relatively clean as Dublin cruised to a 3-19 to 0-12 win, but other aspects of his individual game drew attention.

Six of his 10 first-half kick-outs were overturned.

Dublin lost eight of 18 overall.

The Parnells man particularly struggled with his long dispatches. The suspended Brian Fenton was a big miss around the middle, but he couldn’t consistently find targets like Ciarán Kilkenny, Tom Lahiff and John Small.

In the 17th minute, he sent one restart to no man’s land.

In the 24th, another went directly to Meath and they scored from it.

A minute later, he made amends by pinging straight to Kilkenny. More like it.

Cluxton walking down the tunnel after last year's All-Ireland win. Laszlo Geczo / INPHO Laszlo Geczo / INPHO / INPHO

In terms of goal-line action, Cluxton wasn’t exactly under siege. 

He did claim two early Meath shots that dropped short, from Jordan Morris and Eoghan Frayne respectively, but he didn’t have to make a single save.

A second-half Jack O’Connor effort was kept well away from him by an unaware defender’s block, while a last-ditch attempt to stop a ’45 a few minutes earlier resulted in Cluxton uncharacteristically giving away possession.

He had one attempt at the posts all game: an eighth-minute free-kick from the ’45 line, slightly to the left, to tie matters at 0-2 apiece. It tailed wide to loud jeers from the Meath fans.

Farrell could forgive some “rust” afterwards, as he reflected on a “patchy” Dublin performance overall.

He was asked about Cluxton and Fitzsimons specifically and revealed it was always the plan for them to come back after the league.

“Obviously some of those lads have a lot of miles on the clock,” the Dublin boss said.

“Keeping them fresh, both physically and cognitively, is important. This thing is coming at you very quickly now from here on in. We sort of targeted the championship as a time to try and get them back in the mix and get them some exposure to championship football, to see how we get on and hope that we get the timing right.

“It’s not an exact science. Sometimes you leave it too late, at other times you go too early.

“But fellas of that age have a lot of seasons under their belt so… anyway, we’re here now and they got through that.

“Probably a little bit of a mixed bag but we’re happy enough that we were able to get them in and get them exposed to some championship football.”

Regardless of how it went, Stephen Cluxton is back.

23 years on from his inter-county debut against Longford.

It appears Comerford and O’Hanlon will remain in the shadows for now.

The legend continues.