Tir na nOg ‘Best 15’ footballers

Today we look at the ‘Best 15’ footballers from Tir na nOg, Randalstown through the eyes of current chairman, Dessie O’Neill. Dessie has been an intricate part of the Whitehill club for most of his life and has played and managed various teams and has gone with players from the 80s through to the mid 2000’s.

Dessie has come up with a formidable looking line-up. He had the pleasure of training with or mentoring all of these players. He hasn’t included any of the current squad. There are many more he could have selected and they would have surely been included in others selections.

As always, this is just one man’s selection, ‘it’s just a bit of fun!’

Dessie O’Neill’s Tir na nOg ‘Best 15’

1-Sean Devlin (Beamers) – 6’4″ fearless man mountain renowned for his strong vocal dictation of the game with the ability of 60m + kick-outs.

2-Patsy O’Neill – intelligent player, never panicked and usually always winning his on-field battle.

3-Seamus Hefferon – wasn’t the tallest, always was quick to mark his territory to any visiting full-forwards (the bigger the reputation the taller “The Pelt” grew). Was instrumental in the famous win of St. Pauls when Tír na nÓg ended their year-long undefeated league run.

4-Martin McMullan – Captained the Minor County team in their last Ulster Minor Final Appearance (1998). As like then, he led by example.

5-Eamon Brady – What an athlete – sometimes the man got by, sometimes the ball – seldom both.

Eamon Brady receiving the cup from Terry Cormican

6-Anthony McClenaghan – Tough and solid defender who controlled the game, was a true leader (Captained Tír na nÓg in our first Junior Championship in 1986)

7-Damian McCoy – Capable of marking any of the top players in his day. No noise just got the job done.

8-John McAleese – Represented our County on numerous occasions – Comfortable and excelled in any position up the spine. Knew what it took to win a match and wasn’t short on delivering.

9-Stephen McVeigh – Natural outstanding talent, aerial powers were outstanding. Stephen was a game winner on many occasions. The McVeigh and McAleese mid-field partnership rolled onto county level on many occasions.

10-Aidan Savage – Totally committed to the jersey, work rate of 110% and his natural pace proved a handling for anyone, a few fine points was throwing in for good measure.

11-Michael Magill – Magill had it all, on his day he was the counties best. Scoring 1.06 against All Saints in the 2008 intermediate semi-final got him onto the Irish News Club Team of the Year.

12-Tommy Dobbin – Unsung hero of many a game at the Hill. Work-horse capable of scoring in the impossible position. Broken leg during a carnival match in 1990 brought an untimely end to a real talent.

13-Anthony “Gubba” Brady – Was every bit as good as he said he was. His height was the only thing small about this Giant of a player. Was feared by all opposition.

14-Vincent Magee – The towering 6ft 5, bearded giant, looked like God and boy did he not play like God. Big Vincie made scoring look so simple, even pointing many a point from a 60yrd place ball. He was just brilliant.

15-Dominic McCoy – What a sweat left foot, one of the last place-ball greats. His pairing with Gubba was poetry in motion.

16-Brendan McGrath – cool as a cucumber. Brendan read the game and played the ball, no fuss made everything look simple.

17-Mark O’Boyle – could play any position from Mid-field back at ease. A very versatile player with loads of ability.

18-Chris O’Boyle – Sturdy full back, his performance in the 2000 intermediate championship final was just unreal. Worthy of any team selection.

19-Colm Martin – Served as our No. 1 for over a decade. A great shot-stopper and moved the ball simply out of the danger zone.

20-Jim McAleese – Fearless and simple was the name of his game. Ploughed the way, winning the dirty ball, giving it to the shooters. Often unsung but usually one of the first names on your team sheet.