THE brief was to pick an Allstar select from the men he played with and/or managed. Gearoid Adams lined out for his club St John’s for two decades and was also a stalwart for Antrim many years before moving into management with ‘the Johnnies’ and later Down’s Clonduff. At inter-county level, he was joint manager of Antrim with Frank Fitzsimmons and also became a valued member of the Down management set-up alongside the late Eamonn Burns. The side he has come up with might cause him a few positional headaches but it is packed with top quality performers. Andy Watters writes…
1 Sean McGreevy (Antrim)
I PLAYED with him from minor up to senior level with Antrim so I was with Sean from I was about 16 and we also went to the same school. He was always an excellent goalkeeper and he got an Allstar nomination in the 2000 season mainly because Gregory McCartan wasn’t much of a penalty-taker (that’s a tongue-in-cheek comment which relates to McGreevy’s match-winning save from McCartan’s penalty in the second half of Antrim’s dramatic victory over Down at Casement Park).
He had a great kick-out, if we got a free at half-back or corner-back it was put down for Sean to take it and as a shot-stopper he was second-to-none, probably the best about.
2 James Loughrey (Antrim)
POUND-for-pound around 2012 he was the best player on the club scene and the best player in Antrim. He usually played at half-back or half-forward but he could have played anywhere. We beat Galway in 2012 and we nearly got to the last 12 in the country but Tipperary beat us by a couple of points. Loughrey was the best player that season and he had been for a number of years.
He moved to Cork and he maintained his form down there even though he always seemed to be given man-marking jobs. In my opinion he was better out the field. He is a great athlete, he loved getting forward so it would have been nice to see him doing more of that instead of marking the likes of ‘the Gooch’ every other match.
3 Paul McFlynn (St Mary’s)
I PLAYED with him at ‘The Ranch’ when I was a fourth year and he was a first year. From the minute he came into the panel his potential and qualities were there to be seen. After that year I went to all the St Mary’s matches over the next couple of seasons and he was the main man and he went on to be one of the main players with Derry. He was a very smart player and brilliant on the ball.
4 Anto Finnegan (Antrim)
A GOOD friend of mine and captain of the team that won the All-Ireland ‘B’ Championship and went on to beat Down in 2000 and end our Ulster Championship losing streak. We probably should have beaten Derry too that year and he was the leader. We watched that Down match recently and he was saying that he didn’t think he'd played that well. My response to him was: “Anto, you marked Mickey Linden and kept him to a point”. There were very few backs who could say they did that. In the semi-final against Derry he marked Johnny McBride who played as a third midfielder and that suited Anto, he was more of a ’baller, he liked to play football. He would have been a far better half-back or half-forward but in our team he was always given those hard jobs to do.
7 Mick McCann (Antrim)
THE best player in Antrim over the last few years. You see him getting that bit older and also that bit better which is something that seems to be more common in the game these days. I remember when I was hitting my mid-30s I knew I was done but a lot of players nowadays are actually getting better. I don’t know whether it’s the systems they play – it’s not so much man-to-man anymore – but Mick is still playing great football. He’s a great leader for Cargin and I was with him in 2012 with ‘Baker’ (manager Liam Bradley) when we beat Galway at Casement. He showed massive leadership that day and he was one of the best players on the pitch.
6 Darren O’Hagan (Clonduff)
I MANAGED him when I took Clonduff and of course he was in the Down panel when I was involved a couple of years ago. The best defender in Down without question. Paddy Tally has been playing him at centre half-back and I liked to play him there for Clonduff because he was able to get a point or two in every game. He is always given the man-marking jobs to do but he is also an excellent footballer so it’s trying to find that balance with him. Pound-for-pound he is the best defender in his county in my opinion and also very useful as an attacking half-back.
7 Jimmy Wilson (St John’s and Antrim)
I PLAYED with him at St John’s the whole way through underage and we were very successful in both hurling and football and Jimmy was the main man. He made the Antrim senior hurling team when he was 18 and the senior football team when he was 18 or 19. He was on the Antrim minor team that got to an Ulster semi-final replay. Jimmy was a class act and he was one of the main reasons why St John’s won a championship in 1998. He was in Antrim teams that didn’t win an Ulster Championship match in 10 years and he was on the panel in 2000 when we ended that run by beating Down. He was as delighted as the rest of us.
8 Joe Quinn (Antrim)
A VERY underrated player. A man-mountain and he is very easy-going but he marked (Anthony) Tohill when Tohill was at the top of his game. He marked the likes of Gregory McCartan and he was the main player for us in so many matches. He scored a goal in the All-Ireland ‘B’ final against Fermanagh and played very well. He is also very athletic, I remember Kevin Madden saying he was the best athlete he played with. He was big but he could also move and if he had played for another county he probably would have been representing Ireland in the International Rules.
9 Gerry McCann (St John’s)
I PLAYED for the senior team at St John’s from I was about 16 so I played with some men in my early days who were Antrim and St John’s legends. Gerry had been part of the Antrim team that won the All-Ireland U21 title in 1969 and he was something like 16 championship medals. He was at the end of his career when I came onto the panel but I got a year with him and he was a superb player, he played usually in the forward line and he was unbelievable. As a kid playing with him it was just brilliant. As a 16 year old, to play with a legend like that that was special.
10 Kevin Gough (St John’s)
WHEN I was growing up he was one of the main men. A class player, like Gerry McCann he played for the club and the county and he was part of the really successful St John’s team that we all aspired to be like.
11 Kevin Brady (Antrim)
I PLAYED with him for about 10 years for Antrim and he could pass the ball so accurately that it made you look good. As a half-back coming forward he was always able to put the ball in front of you and he had a brilliant dummy. He left people in his wake because it seemed to work every time. Sean Marty Lockhart marked him in that Derry game but he was able to adjust his game and punch one goal in and score another one. He was quick, he had all the skills and and he could see passes no-one else could see. Just a really good player.
12 Kevin Madden (Antrim)
HE got his jaw broke playing against Westmeath in the League leading into the 2000 Ulster Championship campaign. We missed him against Down but he came off the bench against Derry (Ulster semi-final) and changed the game. He scored a point and I remember Paddy Logan passed him the ball in the dying seconds at Casement. He was about 50 metres out on the right-hand-side but then the referee blew the whistle for a draw. That was our opportunity, I would have put money on Madden to score in the form that he was in. As a half-back looking for a forward, he was always the man to show and he was our main scorer. His playing career was cut short unfortunately but in the time he had he was as good as any forward about.
13 Tomas McCann (Antrim)
I COACHED him at Antrim U21s and then in the senior team when I was joint manager with Frank Fitzsimons. He has the quality to change games on his own. He has lightning speed, brilliant feet and he has that ability to leave a defender in his wake. For natural talent alone, Tomas is definitely in my team.
14 Matthew Fitzpatrick (St John’s and Antrim)
I MANAGED ‘Fitzy’ at club and county level. It’s a great pity he didn’t play for Antrim this year because if he had I’d say they would already have wrapped up promotion. I would let him basically do what he wants because he could play anywhere from five to 15, he’s that talented. He has everything and a great attitude as well, nothing phases him and he has a great skill level. Winning the Sigerson Cup with St Mary’s gave him a great boost and hopefully he’ll return to Gaelic Football over the next couple of years especially for our club St John’s and the county as well.
15 Paddy McBride (St John’s)
I WAS manager of St John’s last year and Paddy was outstanding for us. He was outstanding for Antrim as well. He has the pace to worry any defender and he can take a score. When he is playing well he lifts the other players around him.
Overview
I WANTED to strike a bit of a balance between the men I played with and the modern player and it was a tough job picking this team. I had about three different sides picked!
I’m leaving out the likes of Kevin McGourty, Connaire Harrison, Donal O’Hare, Kevin Niblock and Mickey Darragh, who was one of Antrim’s best-ever corner-forwards, and they would all be brilliant men to bring off the bench.
I was picked for the 1998 Combined University team and the reason I didn’t pick any of those players is that I was injured that day and I didn’t get to play. The likes of Eamon O’Hara (Sligo), Dara O Cinneide (Kerry), Paul Brewster (Fermanagh) were in that team.
