MARY HANNIGANon the woes endured by the Reading man and his delight at being called back to the Ireland fold.

AFTER THE list of woes he has endured over the past few months Noel Hunt was in need of a pick-me-up, a fractured foot, appendicitis and Reading’s early season struggles combining to test the Waterford man’s natural good cheer. His recall to the Republic of Ireland squad, in place of the injured Caleb Folan, is, he says, just the fillip he was seeking.

His last appearance for Ireland was in Bari in April when he replaced then Reading team-mate Kevin Doyle for the last half-hour of the game, and to this day he believes he marked his second cap with a goal.

The equaliser, three minutes from time, was, of course, credited to Robbie Keane, but Hunt insisted he had got the last touch, subsequently contacting the FAI to ask them to look in to the matter.

There wasn’t, he insists, any “grief” over his claims. “No, no, not at all. I think some people see it from my point of view as well. I know what happened. But I was just happy to be a part of it, to be involved and to have an influence in us getting something from the game. I was loving it. If there was money involved, I’d probably be claiming it, but what happened, happened, it’s gone. It’s definitely a game I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.”

He won’t forget the summer he had either. His hopes of adding to his caps in the friendlies against Nigeria and Australia and the qualifying game against Bulgaria in between had already been ended by the fractured foot he sustained in a league match against Barnsley in April. And then, to top it all, the 26-year-old was struck down by appendicitis the following month.

“It was when I was home (in Waterford) for the weekend, I thought I’d a bit of food poisoning and I was blaming everyone. I wouldn’t go to the doctor because that’s all I thought it was, I thought I’d just get over it, but my appendix had actually ruptured.

“Then when I couldn’t move the mother dragged me to hospital and of course mammies are always right; she was telling me it was my appendix the whole time and I wouldn’t listen to her.

“I was saying, ‘Shut up, mam, don’t be so stupid’. When she came in to the hospital to see me it was like she was after having her first grandchild, she was the proudest woman in the world because she knew what it was.

“I was lying there in bits. They said I couldn’t run for six to eight weeks. I was lucky because it was when I was on my way to hospital that it actually burst. I was blessed in a way that she took me off the couch. I had a nightmare that weekend. The only good thing that happened is that I didn’t die. Everything else bar that went wrong, we’ll leave it at that.”

He is, he says, finally back to full fitness, playing in 11 games (scoring twice) for Reading so far this season, where, he says, life is “quieter” since the departure of his brother Stephen and Doyle.

He wasn’t surprised to be excluded from the initial squad for the games against Italy and Montenegro, partly because of his long lay-off, partly due to the emergence of Leon Best.

“And fair play to Leon, he’s come in and done really well. It’s up to me to fight for a place now and dislodge him. That’s the way it is, that’s football. The gaffer is a fair man and I wouldn’t expect any leeway for me or Leon. I’m just happy to be back and a part of it. Hopefully, I can keep it going.”

And hopefully he’ll listen to his mammy next time.