best player you played against

Had a bit of a think about this one as throughout my football and hurling career i have marked numerous county players between underage and senior and can still only come up with the same answer.

The most gifted and best player i played against was easily the best footballer i ever marked, a lad by the name of Gareth Mills from the Watty Grahams, Glen club.

I heard he was a good player but never really got the chance to see him play due to my own commitments for the various teams i played for but i got the chance to mark him when our minor teams crossed paths in the Derry Minor League. He refused to play for St. Pats, Maghera and Derry Minors despite being begged by the management of both sides and had the reputation as a hell raiser in his personal life with football being way down on his list of priorities.

When i marked him i was 16 playing centre back for the minors and he was 18; i have never taken such a roasting from a player in my life, he had the whole package, he was big, had a brilliant football brain and a great engine. He also had a short fuse which i refused to play on despite my managers instructions.

I marked him for the whole game and held him to a meesly 1-08 (all from play) and we got hammered. He came over to me after the match and told me that he really enjoyed playing against me as i tested him differently from other players that marked him, i was friendly with a few of the lads on his team and they told me afterwards that he was singing my praises in the changing rooms and said he'd never been made to work that hard for scores in a game for a long time, i took this as quite a compliment as after that match my respect for him as a footballer just went through the roof.

I always thought he was a bit of a tortured soul and when driving home from my then girlfriends house, i passed through Maghera and was flagged down by some lads i recognised, they were in hysterics. A few minutes earlier he'd stolen a gun from one of friends fathers gun cabinet, walked out of the house to the roadside and blew his brains out. Not the nicest thing to see when you're only 18 or so i must say.

When this conversation comes up in the pub or when i'm with mates i always have the same answer for them, that lad was immense and if his head had've been right he would have been an All-Star for sure. Without doubt, the best player i have ever played against and God rest him.

I played in the Connacht FA Junior cup against Ciaran McDonald. Does that count?

Dr.Shephard wrote:I played in the Connacht FA Junior cup against Ciaran McDonald. Does that count?

It all depends on two things

a) had he his hair in a plait?

b) had he got the mad tattoos. (in which case ou may have spent 90 minutes reading him instead of marking him)

If a is yes it doesn't count - if b is yes ... well ok....

Dr.Shephard wrote:I played in the Connacht FA Junior cup against Ciaran McDonald. Does that count?

Soccerball I take it....Doesn't count....Sorry.

OMAR wrote:Cheers Mugsy/Bocerty

Played minor against him in 1991 - Think he was centre half back at the time -I was right half forward so our paths crossed a few times - I still have the marks !!
But even as a minor he was a players whose legend preceded him as a hardy player.

Teague was a hardy buck alright - probably one of the best scrappers i ever seen was well able to look after himself. I remember him playing MacRory football for Omagh CBS and playing fullback - i think the opponent was giving him a fair bit of guff so Teague give him a bang on the side of the head as a warning shot - little did he know the lads father was doing umpire and he started giving Teague bad manners having seen what he done - so Teague give him a few skelps too for good measure.

Played Michael Meehan on numerous occasions at at underage level, both for school and county. Then played on the same team as him in college.

Eamon O'Hara is a constant pest at club level, thankfully he doesn't play too often outside of Championship anymore.

2002 Connacht Minor Semi-Final had the distinct displeasure of being part of a team destroyed by Leitrim in Markievicz park. One of the better performers for Leitrim that day was Philly McGuinness (possibly due to a few too many kickouts being aimed towards his side of the field).

black&white wrote:One of the better performers for Leitrim that day was Philly McGuinness (possibly due to a few too many kickouts being aimed towards his side of the field).

Thats goalies for ya B&W - thick as planks ....

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

black&white wrote:One of the better performers for Leitrim that day was Philly McGuinness (possibly due to a few too many kickouts being aimed towards his side of the field).

Thats goalies for ya B&W - thick as planks ....

Problem was that the same thing was happening when they went the other side as well!

black&white wrote:Problem was that the same thing was happening when they went the other side as well!

Played against Oisin McConville, the McEntees, Dermot McCabe, Anthony Moyles, Enda Muldoon, Conor Gormley to name a few.

Also had the pleasure of being marked by Ricey last November which was interesting to say the least!

Within the county Gary McQuaid is an awful hard fecker to play on, up and down the pitch all day long. Dermot McArdle is another very tough opponent, been around for years and knows every trick in the book, very hard to get away from him.

mid-mon man wrote:Also had the pleasure of being marked by Ricey last November which was interesting to say the least!

Within the county Gary McQuaid is an awful hard fecker to play on, up and down the pitch all day long. Dermot McArdle is another very tough opponent, been around for years and knows every trick in the book, very hard to get away from him.

MMM - surely these guys are playing illegally in the Masters???

James Kielt and Chris McKaigue

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

mid-mon man wrote:Also had the pleasure of being marked by Ricey last November which was interesting to say the least!

Within the county Gary McQuaid is an awful hard fecker to play on, up and down the pitch all day long. Dermot McArdle is another very tough opponent, been around for years and knows every trick in the book, very hard to get away from him.

MMM - surely these guys are playing illegally in the Masters???

Was only a pup when I played against the older heads I mention there!

Antony Tohill we took turns marking him, safely say at least 10 of us marked him during the course of the game still ended up getting the ***** beat out of us