Today we take a look at All Saints ‘Best 15’ footballers through the eyes of Maurice Goldring. Maurice has been a member of the All Saints club since its inception and has played both football and hurling with many of his selection on the ‘Best 5’ from the Ballymena club. He is presently joint manager of the club’s Ladies football team. Like all of our contributors, ‘Mo’ had an unenviable task in making his selection and could easily picked another 15 to rival his final 15. Mo’s selection includes a first in this series as Enda McAtamney becomes the first player to appear in two ‘Best 15’ teams having previously been selected on Gearoid Adam’s St. John’s side.

Not everyone will agree with his selection but it’s just one man’s opinion.

It’s just a bit of fun!

Maurice Goldring’s All Saints’ ‘Best 15’ footballers

1- Barney Lynn. Bill was a top class custodian .An excellent shot stopper who organised his back line well gaining recognition with a County call up.

2- Seamus McMahon. Hector was one of the fittest guys I’ve ever played with .A builder by trade when he wasn’t playing football or training with the Saints he was doing circuits U really had to be on your game to get the better of him.

3- Peter McNicholl Watched Peter play on numerous occasions and was impressed by his positioning and how he contributed to the team as a whole Major factor in All Saints recent Intermediate Championship successes.

4- John Donaghy Tyrone native JD was tough in the tackle and used the ball well breaking from defence A very skilled man marker who kept himself incredibly fit

 5- Paddy McAleer One of the young guns who could play in a number of positions Very comfortable on the ball and his physicality made him difficult to contain Another County player who when he returns to Slemish Park will add quality to the team

 6- Michael McVeigh Every team needs players like Micky A very good reader of the game who was skilled at breaking up opposition attacks and converting play to the advantage of the Saints Committed from start to finish in every game I’ve either played with him or watched him in and certainly my type of footballer

7- Andy McAuley Andy is another of the 1980s vintage winning both Junior Championship in 1984 and Intermediate in 1986 Andy’s work-rate was phenomenal and he brought both energy and enthusiasm to the dressing room

8- Timmy Connolly TC Tim Pat I’ve been quoted before and believe Timmy to be the best player I’ve played with for All Saints Really emerged into the big stage against St Johns in the Senior Championship when at the tender age of 19 he dominated the midfield Went on to enjoy a long and distinguished football career with All Saints Antrim and Tir Connaill Gaels Great fielder of the ball and intelligent in his distribution One for the scrapbook

9- Sean McVeigh A fantastic asset to All Saints and current club captain Sean has also enjoyed a fine county career with both Antrim and London His ball winning desire is outstanding and those driving runs forward are a joy to watch Sean works hard at training and on match days and demands that others a follow his lead

10- Peter McCann Bugsy possessed pace in abundance and determination in equal measure An all-round athlete who enjoyed a long career with the county More recently he has been involved with our Reserve set up assisting our younger players transition from minor to senior grade

11- Enda McAtamney Dead ball specialist but an all-round top class footballer. Outstanding performances in our Championship success in 1986.Another of our County stars.

12- Brendan McCann Bags of skill and pace but Barney’s bravery and never say die attitude contributed to making him the whole package. Contributed many crucial scores and another county player

13- Michael McCarry PE Teacher Mick gets the nod based on his scoring consistency and outstanding contribution to the team. Recently rewarded for his club performances with a well-deserved county call up.

14- Gerry McCann Played football with Gerry from primary school. On his day Gerry was unplayable with pace strong ball carrying skills and a clinical finish all in his locker. Another of the 1980s crew who always gave 100% at training and on match day. Gerry also played county football

15- Frank Delargy Outstanding footballer who possessed great timing to be in the right place at the right time and add to the points tally. Dined out on his wonder goal against Ardoyne in the Championship at St Pauls but the rest of the team appreciated the score. Another county footballer.

Subs: Kevin Quigley Papa was an outstanding footballer. A great fielder of the ball Kevin instilled a belief in his squads that no other team or player was better than us.

 Brian Walsh Down native ‘Walshie’ brought a great deal of quality to the Saints. Excellent when in possession but calm under pressure and a real team player

 Raymond Shannon Jumbo was a fantastic target man who won so much possession for the team, equally adept at contributing crucial scores and had a stint in goals also.

19 Denis Rocks Rocksy was like a classic car Never seemed to be under pressure and always enjoyed his football A great man marker and his ability to organise his defensive unit was outstanding.

Paul McCann. An outstanding forward and goalkeeper who has been an great servant to All Saints and could fit comfortably into any side.

There were quite a number of other players who would have fitted comfortably into this selection and who may feel disappointed not to make the cut. Seamus McAffee, Andy Kelly, Damian Kelly, Micky O’Kane, Emmet Killough, Dominic O’Loughlin and Gerry Davey were outstanding defenders while Paddy Logan, Sean McCambridge, Damian Casey and Peter ‘Pizza’ McReynolds are others unfortunate not to make the starting 15.

A few weeks ago we carried a report on Pearses only Senior Football Championship success and the article attracted a lot of interest. Today we go back to 20 years prior to that when Eire Og collected their one and only title in 1948.

On their way to that famous victory Eire Og defeated Ardoyne and then Dunloy in the quarter-final before overcoming the challenge of O’Connell’s in the semi-final to set up a meeting with St. John’s in the ‘48’ final.

 Semi Final Report – 17th June 1948 Eire Og 1-7 v O’Connell’s 1-3

WEAK O’CONNELLS GO DOWN TO EIRE OG

Without Geo. Watterson, Sean Gibson and Paddy O’Hara, O’Connell’s were outclassed by Eire Og in the first half of the Antrim Senior Football Semi-final at Corrigan Park last night. County players Harry O’Neill, Kevin Armstrong and Harry McPartland heroically, but vainly tried to stem the tide that produced a goal from Jimmy Morgan and points by P.Morgan, B.O’Kane, M.Morgan, K.Lennon, H.Greenwood and J.Morgan. J.McGuigan made several smart saves in the O’Connell goal, and Eire Og’s lead of 1-6 to nil at the interval understates their predominance.

Harry McPartland moved up to centre-half for O’Connell’s in the second half, and the play became more even, though Eire Og were the first to score – a point per M.Morgan – at the three-quarter stage. Jack Wilson came on for O’Connell’s who took definite command for the first time in the match. O’Neill and Armstrong had now someone to play to, and Wilson gave his side hope by palming through a goal. Malone fisted out a grand shot by O’Neill, but Devine retrieved to point. O’Connells had four successive fifties without result. Devine added another point for O’Connells. Eire Og’s defence was panicky at this period, though George Rowe and Kieran Lennon defended well. Devine got O’Connells last point in an exciting finish that saw the champions fight desperately, but vainly, to save the tie.

Final – 9th August 1948 Eire Og 2-2 v St Johns 1-4

EIRE OG SURPRISE ST JOHNS

Eire Og caused a surprise at Corrigan Park yesterday when they defeated St John’s in the Antrim Senior Football Championship final.

The match throughout ruled keen, but there was little, if any, spectacular football, due to the tenacious tackling, though the winners shaped far and away the fitter, faster and more cohesive team.

The winners were well served in defence by Pat Morgan (goalie), Sean McKeown, Jimmy Rowe and Tom Rice, Peter O’Hara and Felix O’Kane, Brian O’Kane, Jim Morgan. Harry Greenwood, Matt Morgan, Liam O’Neill and John Johnston, Fogarty and John Coll played spiritedly.

St John’s attack at no period revealed their erstwhile incisive and accurate combination. Despite all the ingenuity and skill of Joe McCallin and his brother Andy, together with the pertinacity of Billy Feeney and Bob Cunningham their team disappointed from a forward standpoint in particular.

In the first half St John’s led by one goal (F.Campbell) and two points (F.Bonnett, T.Best) to one goal (Fogarty) and one point (Jim Morgan) by Eire Og.

During the second half Eire Og added one goal (Johnston) and a point (Morgan), St John’s replying with two points (Bennett, Joe McCallin).

The 1948 Eire Og Senior Football Squad

Pat Morgan, Jimmy Rowe, Sean McKeown, Tommy Rice, Ciaran Lennon, Peter O’Hara, Felix O’Kane, Jimmy Morgan, Brian O’Kane, Harry Greenwood, Matt Morgan, William O’Neill, Jackie Johnston, John Fogarty, Jackie Coll, Ted Gilligan, Dr. Tony Smith, Dermot Denvir, Gerry Bradley

 Honourable mention to honorary club president Matt Morgan RIP

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.  

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.

Antrim 1-7 Kerry 1-7

Antrim and Kerry served up an entertaining hour’s football at the opening of St Gall’s new grounds at Milltown in a game that ended level on 1-7 apiece.

On the face of it this might look like a very good result for Antrim, but the Saffron have only themselves to blame for not winning the game. They had an abundance chances to do so, but a total of seventeen wides, (eleven of them in the opening half when wind assisted) tells its own story.

It is not that they didn’t play well, for indeed there were times when some of their movement was quite spectacular, but on many occasions that final touch let them down. However to dwell on the result of a challenge game would be wrong for the day belonged to St Gall’s who opened a splendid ground which they can be rightly proud of.

Antrim were somewhat taken aback in the early stages, not only by the speed with which the Kerry men moved the ball, but also the way they seemed to think quicker and see the openings, and it was no surprise when the Munster champions took an early lead with points from Sean Walks and Michael McAuliffe (2).

A point from midfielder Ciaran O’Neill was Antrim’s first score and from then on they began to settle. They missed great opportunities of further scores before full forward Brian White gave them a great boost when he rose above the Kindom’s full back Jack O’Shea to punch the ball past Charlie Nelligan in the Kerry goal. Brian White, Donal Armstrong and Alec McQuillan all missed good chances in the next ten minutes and they were made to pay dearly for those errors as Kerry strung together a lovely flowing move which ended with a John Kennedy goal, to put them 1-3 to 1-1 ahead. Antrim recovered from the set-back to draw level by half time thanks to points from Mickey Darragh and Donal Armstrong.

With the breeze favouring Kerry in the second half Antrim appeared to have a major struggle on their hands, but they got and early boost when Alec McQuillan pointed a free four minutes after the restart to restore his team’s lead. Tom Spillane brought Kerry level with a point at the other end but Antirm were soon back in front when Enda McAtamney pointed following a good move by Seamus McGoran and Donal Armstrong.

Kerry levelled the scores again with a point from Sean Walsh in the 41^st minute and three minutes later they retook the lead with one from John Joe Sheehy. A fines solo score from Barney McCann in the 50^th minute restored parity once again and Antrim looked well placed for victory minutes later when substitute Ciaran Hamill split the Kerry posts. Thing looked good for the home side as full time approached but they were denied the victory in the final minutes when John Kennedy popped over a point to earn the visitors a draw.

Overall a pleasing enough result for both teams and a good work out with championship time fast approaching. It was interesting to note that it was Antrim who looked the fitter team of the two but they will have to sharpen up their finishing before they face Tyrone in the championship in June.

Best for Antrim were Liam Turbitt in goal, who made three outstanding saves in the first half, while Seamus McGoran had an outstanding game at corner back, closely followed by Dessie McGuckin, Mickey Corr, Charlie McStravick, and Alec McQuillan.

Ciaran O’Neill had a tremendous second half at midfield where he was ably assisted by Stephen Mulvenna while in the forwards ‘Harry’ McGuckin was the star with Donal Armstrong Barney McCann and Enda McAtamney lending good support.

Antrim scorers – Brian White 1-0, Enda McAtamney 0-1, Ciaran O’Neill 0-1, Barney McCann 0-1, Alec McQuillan 0-1, Donal Armstrong 0-1, Mickey Darragh 0-1.

ANTRIM – Liam Turbitt, Seamus McGoran, Gregg Finnegan, Dessie McGuckin, Michael Corr, Charlie McStravick, Alec McQuillan, Ciaran O’Neill, Stephen Mulvenna, Enda McAtamney, Harry McGuckin, Mickey Darragh, Donal Armstrong, Brian White, Barney McCann. SUBS – Ciaran Hamill and Timmy Connolly.

KERRY – C Nelligan, C Cuchane, J O’Shea, P O’Sé, E Walsh, J O’Dwyer, E Lynch, T Spilanne, F Murphy, J Shannon, JJ Sheehy, J Kennedy, M McAuliffe, S Walsh, G Murphy.

Referee – Gerry McClory