JOHN Milton, the great English poet, had a phrase that might mollify all those eternal substitutes: “They also serve who only stand and wait”.
Tell that to any Gaelic footballer with a modicum of ambition and he will tell you swiftly to go take a hike. And it is no different with Donegal’s feisty wing-forward Marty O’Reilly as he looks forward to nailing down that elusive starting slot against Armagh on Sunday.
Nothing beats playing as the Sean MacCumhaill’s star puts it so succinctly;
“Realistically, you don’t train three or four nights a week just to sit on the bench”.
And the Sean MacCumhaill’s flyer knows all about the hard sit on the bench against Armagh in last year’s turgid All-Ireland SFC quarter-final.
“It is a big change alright and it is very exciting to be a part of it and making the team,” he added.
“Last year and the year before you have to stay on the bench and bide your time.
“If you look at Frank McGlynn, one of the most consistent players in Ulster if not in the county at present, he sat on the bench for a number of years.
“It served Frank well and hopefully it will be as kind to me too.”
These days O’Reilly is working as a teacher in Dublin and has been training hard along with Paul Durcan, Hugh McFadden and Paddy McGrath.
“It is difficult being away from home. Rory [Gallagher] does not see you every Tuesday or Thursday night.
“But you have to keep plugging away and when you do get the chance you have to put your best foot forward.
“Ultimately, you have to keep working hard and that is all you can do and hope that everything goes well for you when you get on.
“When the nights are long and it is a good evening you don’t mind going down.
“I’m lucky I’m a teacher here in Dublin and I finish school at 2.30pm.
“If you’re not playing regularly it is more difficult, but for me it is so far so good and I’m enjoying going down and I’m really enjoying the training as well.
“I always try and get down on a Thursday evening and then any other time that Rory wants us down.
“In fairness to Rory, he is not too demanding. He understands that it is basically six hours sitting in a car.
“But all that travelling can be a little hollow if you are not on that most coveted first fifteen.”
And that’s why it was a bit extra special when O’Reilly heard his name called out for last month’s epic encounter with Tyrone.
“It is really exciting and it was especially so for me for the Tyrone game, as the game was in MacCumhaill Park, my home club and my home pitch,” he added.
“Unfortunately, I picked up a yellow card early in that game and it limited me in what I could get involved in afterwards.
“There is no point in lying as it is very exciting when your name is called out and you are in the first fifteen.”
But that is just where the real hard graft begins.
“The role of forwards in Gaelic football is changing and evolving all the time if Rory asks you to track back and tackle and defend that is what has to be done and I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” he adds.
“It has to be done because it takes the 15 on the field working really hard. If you are not working hard you are letting down the team.
“So it does not matter if Rory asks the corner-forward to get back and defend, I’m willing to do that.”
So how do you cope with a yellow card?: “ A yellow card does restrict you and anyone that tells you anything else is not telling the truth,” he says.
“Once you pick up a yellow you are always thinking one more rash challenge and you could be in trouble and this is especially the case since the introduction of the black card.
“If you put your arms around someone and they go to ground you could find yourself in bother and, before you know it, you are sitting in the dug-out and your team is down to 14 men.”
Competition for places in this Donegal side is red hot and O’Reilly is just hoping he gets the green light for a daunting visit to the Athletic Grounds.
“Hopefully, I will make the team for Armagh,” he says.
“I have trained hard but I’ll understand if I’m not in the first 15, I’ll be sitting on the subs bench ready to go if I’m called on and ready to go at anytime I’m asked.
“There is no point if you do not make the starting team to be holding a grudge, it is just a matter of accepting it and being ready to go out and do your best for the team if you get the call.
“Rory, Jack Cooney and Gary McDaid have decisions to make for the best of the team and you respect their decision and we all know it is now really a 20-man game.
“For you often see the players that come off the bench in the last 15 minutes are the ones that finish out the game for the team.
“If that has to be my role against Armagh, to come off the bench and help to get Donegal over the line, I’ll be more than happy because ultimately the goal of every one of the 20 men is to get the result against Armagh.
“But I would still much prefer to start – as do all the rest of the boys.”
O’Reilly has some experience of playing against Armagh a few years ago.
“I played them in the National League,” he recalls.
“It was my first year playing under Jim McGuinness and Rory Gallagher and I remember coming on and fisting the ball over the bar.
“I have often wondered should I have gone for the goal but we got over the line that day.
“It was surreal for me, because Billy Joe Padden was playing for Armagh that day, he is a second cousin of mine from Mayo. It was really exciting that day playing in MacCumhaill Park against Armagh.”
But his last encounter with the Orchard County was in the fraught atmosphere on the bench as Donegal stumbled past Armagh in that torrid All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park last August.
“It was nerve-wracking watching it from the dug-out,” he said.
“Odhran [MacNiallais] scored the goal and then Armagh went ahead going into the closing minutes.
“But the lads worked rally hard and Michael [Murphy] and Patrick [McBrearty] scored those late points and we made it into the semi-final.
“It was a really tough game and Armagh will have felt it is a game they should have won and they will be all out to avenge that defeat on Sunday.
“They are in the Athletic Grounds and they have Kieran McGeeney as manager. They are going to go into the game with an edge to them.
“We are going to have to work hard and give it everything and nothing short of our best will be good enough.”
