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Philip Jordan has tough time picking Irish News Allstars team

Irish News columnist Philip Jordan admits picking his Irish News Ulster Allstars team left him with ‘plenty of tough choices’.

His native Tyrone lead the way with seven players (including two fellow Moy men), with five of the nine Ulster counties represented...

1) Raymond Galligan (Cavan) 

 GONE are the days of a manager putting shot-stopping and long kick-outs at the top of requirements for his goalkeeper. Galligan has limited experience of playing between the sticks, but his accuracy from restarts and free-kicks has added so much to Cavan’s game. His performance in the opening half of the Ulster semi-final was as good as I’ve seen from any number one.

2) Paddy McGrath (Donegal)

MCGRATH is now given the task of marking the opposition danger man on a regular basis. In the absence of Neil McGee, he did an excellent job on Monaghan’s Conor McManus over the course of two games, whilst Connor McAliskey got no change out of the Donegal man in the Ulster final.

3) Ronan McNamee (Tyrone)

MCNAMEE plays right on the edge, much like most of the top man-markers in the game. He doesn’t grab many headlines for his work, but it’s very rare an opposition forward gets the better of him. Comfortable on the ball when coming out of defence, his best display was in closing out the threat of Patrick McBrearty in the Ulster final.

4) Cathal McCarron (Tyrone)

NOT the prototypical Tyrone player in that panic normally sets in when he takes off on a solo run up the pitch. McCarron’s strength is in his defensive game where he has dominated all opposition players with the exception of Aidan O’Shea last time out.

5) Ryan McHugh (Donegal)

A LEADING contender for the Ulster Player of the Year, McHugh continues to improve and is arguably now the most important player in the Donegal team. His ability to consistently dominate games from half-back makes him one of the best in his position in the country. Combines pace, timing, ball-carrying and score-taking with ease.

6) Conor Moynagh (Cavan)

MOYNAGH benefited from the more attacking style employed by Terry Hyland this year. Always physical in the tackle, his ability to turn defence into attack added a new dimension to Cavan in the Championship. A player to build the young team around in the coming years.

7) Niall Sludden (Tyrone)

THE real find for Tyrone in 2016 was Niall Sludden. Showed his versatility by playing in both defence and up front. Sludden has similar strengths to Ryan McHugh and he has the ability to reach a similar level.

8) Colm Cavanagh (Tyrone)

TYRONE’S Mr Consistent continued to produce at a high level throughout 2016. His importance to Tyrone’s defensive system should not be under-estimated. When asked to play further out the field against Cavan, Tyrone conceded their first goals in Championship football in over a year. Tackling, positional play, work-rate, high fielding and breaking at pace are attributes that make him one of the best in the business.

9) Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone)

THE Trillick man is the perfect partner for Cavanagh, being given the licence to get forward at every opportunity. 2015 was his best year in a Tyrone jersey and he did what so many fail to do – back it up the following season. A regular contributor on the score board, he didn’t deserve to end up on the losing side against Mayo.

10) Odhran Mac Niallais (Donegal)

CONSISTENTLY excellent throughout the season with a man-of-the-match display in the opening round against Fermanagh. With packed defences the norm, the ability to kick scores from long range is what every manager wants in his players. Mac Niallais has a wonderful languid kicking style which is deadly accurate. Pitched in with goals against Fermanagh and Monaghan.

11) Peter Harte (Tyrone)

IT took me only a couple of weeks training alongside Harte to realise he was a special talent. It was last year before he showed that talent to everyone consistently, but he took his game to another level this year. Influenced every game and, more importantly, his best performances came at the most important times – the second half against Donegal and again versus Mayo. My pick for Ulster Player of the Year.

12) Danny Heavron (Derry)

IT wasn’t easy to find positives from Derry’s hammering by Tyrone, but Heavron was one of the few players that could hold his head high afterwards. Combines hard running with an ability to kick scores from distance and was Derry’s best player in a surprising Qualifier run. His withdrawal through injury late on against Tipperary may well have cost Derry a place in the last eight. 

13) Patrick McBrearty (Donegal)

WITH Colm McFadden being used from the bench and Michael Murphy rarely playing inside, McBrearty is now the leader of the Donegal attack. It’s hard to believe he was playing in a sixth Ulster final this year at just 23 years of age. The performance he gave in Croke Park against Cork was the best forward display of 2016.

14) Sean Cavanagh (Tyrone)

THE sign of a great player is to be able to change their style of play and still influence games. Gone are the days when Cavanagh runs through the centre of the opposition defence. However, he sets standards for teammates to follow in terms of his attitude and work rate. The scores he kicked in the second half of the Ulster final were the definition of leadership. 

15) Tomas Corrigan (Fermanagh)

CORRIGAN took full advantage of the extra focus on Sean Quigley after his scoring exploits of last season. Corrigan was brilliantly accurate from placed balls and could always be counted on to add to his tally from play. The stand-out moments were two superb sideline kicks against Antrim.

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