'I always said the team would get strong enough and I would be happy in goals'

Teelin's Paddy Byrne is happy to be back between the posts for Naomh Columba after alternating from the No 1 jersey and a midfield role.

Byrne has been in and out in his eight years playing senior football for Glen and has enjoyed both roles. He said: "I started in goals for the first half of my first year and then ended up out the field. I then spent about three years out the field then. From then I was in and out.

His ability as a footballer has seen him pressed into action where needed. At county level he was understudy to Danny Rodgers at minor and U-21. While back at Naomh Columba there was goalkeeping cover with Shane O'Gara and more recently veteran Gerard McGill was making the journey from Carlow to fill the void.

Now Byrne is back between the posts and asked if he had a preference, he feels he is of more use to the team now as a goalkeeper.

"I enjoyed my time out the field,” he said. “But I always said that eventually the team will get strong enough and I would be happy to go in goals. I think that time has come. This team is strong around the middle; thankfully I'm not needed there. My better position is probably in goals, but in terms of enjoyment I would rather play out the field."

Then what would he do if he were in control and was player-manager of Naomh Columba: "I'd have to pick myself in goals. I'd have to bite the bullet," laughs Byrne, who said the goalkeeping position can be a lonely place and Byrne agrees with this.

"It can be,” he added. “We have a good system and you get plenty of support. I have Philip Doherty in front of me. Me and Philip have been playing together since underage. He was a year behind me but we were always in the same teams. Even when I was playing out the field, he was beside me. We are hard to separate."

In the semi-final against Gaeil Fhánada, the Naomh Columba full-back line were put under a lot of pressure with a barrage of high balls from start to finish, something that Byrne agrees was very unusual in the modern game.

"That was the strangest game I ever played in. I never faced as many high balls in my whole life,” Byrne said. “It was scary. It was a daunting place in there with Michael Sweeney and I can't think of the other big fellow in there as well."

What does a goalkeeper do when put in this position, making the decision to come or stay?
"I suppose it just depends on where the ball is going,” he added. “It can be very hard to judge them sometimes, especially in the second half when the lights came on. I had full confidence in the boys in front of me Fionn Gallagher, Declan McGuire and Philip Doherty every time they were going.

"Any time I went I felt it was a goal threat or coming my way," says Byrne who also referred to one of the big moments in that semi-final when a fisted pass in over the Naomh Columba last line left him in a difficult position with a Gaeil Fhánada forward running on to the ball.

"I was in no man's land. If he had got the right hop it could have been different. But it was a big turn around as we went up the field and got a penalty."

Like most of the Naomh Columba panel, he has enjoyed most of his success at college level with Coláiste na Carraige, winning two Ulster titles

"There was great unity in those teams at Coláiste na Carraige. There was never any issue between the two clubs, Kilcar and Glen. We got on really well."

But he agrees that this final will be the first really big occasion for the team at senior level. "It is the first big occasion for most of us," said Byrne, who along with Lanty Molloy, keeps the Teelin flag flying in the senior team.

Byrne, like many in the side, is based in Dublin where he has been a Primary School teacher at Drimnagh Castle for four years.
"I've now spent eight years in Dublin between college and work,” he said. "Travelling takes a toll on the body. I get bother from the back from driving too much. It's not too bad any more. When it's going well like this, it is no bother. It is easy to do it. You don't mind doing the journeys when things are going well and the spirit is good in the camp."

"The pride in the club around here, everyone is doing it. You would still do it, but it would be a lot harder if you weren't hitting any form, or if it was a tough year."