They say the first year is always the toughest when it comes to a player looking to make their breakthrough in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.   Well, here are some which have made it look easy so far…  

BJ Keane (Kerry)  
After Tommy Walsh's departure to Australia last year, forwards all over the Kingdom have been queuing up to fill the void left by the Kerins O'Rahillys man, and while Kieran Donaghy and new captain Bryan Sheehan have returned to demonstrate their true form in the early stages of this year's All-Ireland SFC, Barry John Keane has announced himself as one of the most exciting young forwards in the county.  
Another prodigy of the famous O'Rahillys club, Keane made his senior championship debut in the green and gold under Jack O'Connor on May 16 against Tipperary in the quarter-finals of the Munster SFC when he came on as Kerry's fifth substitute to kick two points and help his county to a 2-18 to 2-6 win over the Premier men.  
Blessed with lethal accuracy and devastating pace, Keane has all the attributes to nail down a starting place in the Kerry team and were it not for the Kingdom's healthy stock of attackers already - which reads Donaghy, Sheehan, Cooper, Donnacha Walsh, Declan O'Sullivan and Galvin, if you were to go by their strongest six, - he would certainly be one of the first on the team-sheet.  
Three substitute appearances in as many games so far in the championship have saw Keane contribute 0-5 already, and you can expects that tally to rise as the summer wears on.  
 
Alan Freeman (Mayo)  
Following some impressive displays at club and inter-county level, Alan Freeman's reputation proceeded him before he stepped onto the senior stage this year.  
The Aghamore attacker played his part in Mayo's progression to a National Football League final earlier this season and for that he was rewarded with a starting berth at full-forward against Sligo in the Connacht SFC at the start of June. While it wasn't the debut Freeman would have pictured, as his team were shocked by the Yeats County with a 0-15 to 1-8 defeat at Markievicz Park, manager John O'Mahony couldn't have asked for much more from the youngster, who finished top-scorer on the day with 1-4 to his name.  
Seven minutes into his senior championship debut for the Westerners, Freeman won and converted a penalty which looked to have Mayo in the driving-seat against their neighbours. Even when Sligo pulled level at half-time, Freeman led the Mayo fight at the start of the second-half, which eventually fizzled out as the Division Three champions cruised to victory in the end.  
With Longford to play at Pearse Park in the opening round of the qualifiers, Mayo will be confident of progression and will surely have Freeman again in their ranks - provided he remains injury-free - and it will be his knack for scoring allied with the likes of Conor Mortimer and Enda Varley - another newcomer to impress so far this year - up front that Mayo will be calling upon to try and turn their season around.  
 
Graham Reilly (Meath)  
1-4 isn't a bad return from any half-forward and Graham Reilly is the type who can make it look easy during a titanic Leinster SFC battle with Laois at Croke Park, where extra-time couldn't even separate the sides.  
Reilly's All-Ireland SFC starting debut for the Royals came on May 23 when he took the number 12 jersey at Portlaoise against Offaly, whom Eamonn O'Brien's charges put up 1-20 against and, amazingly, he wasn't amongst the scorers. That could be enough for any manager to dwell on come his next team selection, especially with the pick of forwards Meath boast today, but O'Brien obviously seen something in Reilly and he got the nod again when the time came to play Laois in the last eight of the province.  
Five minutes into the clash with the O'Moore men at Croke Park, Reilly bagged his first championship goal and looked to have Meath on their way with two points before half-time to help them towards a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead.  
Reilly added another brace to his tally, but it seemed nothing could stop the opposition's comeback as they forced extra-time and during the first-half of that the St Colmcille's ace was withdrawn with injury, but with noting serious enough to rule him out of the replay meeting between the two sides the following weekend. 
 
Martin Clarke (Down)  
What is there to say about this young man that hasn't already been said? An All-Ireland minor winner with Down in 2005 and a star with the Collingwood club 'Down Under' in the AFL at the tender age of 19; it's hard to believe that Martin Clarke made his Ulster Senior Football Championship debut on May 30, 2010 as a corner-forward against Donegal in Ballybofey.   
After returning home at the start of the year, the now 21-year-old was instantly called into the Down panel by new manager James McCartan for the National Football League and by April the Mourne men were promoted back to the top tier. Clarke was impressive from centre-forward, as were number of new faces 'Wee James' drafted in for the campaign. Come the end of May, there was no doubting who would be the first name on his team sheet. 
It took extra-time for Down to take care of Donegal, as Clarke struck 0-3 and set-up Benny Coulter in the 86th minute for the winning goal as the visitors came away with a 1-15 to 2-10 victory to book a provincial semi-final date with Tyrone. Tweet

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