Ballinderry Shamrocks

Story with happy Enda

Sunday, May 11, 2008

By Maurice Kennedy

Here is a man who could and probably should write a book about all the stick he got down the years on and off the field, not that it ever seemed to stymie the sheer style and class which set him apart as one of the most gifted players of his generation.

Better than Maurice Fitzgerald? Quite possibly, not least for his ability to make that killer pass of maybe 40 or 50 yards, or the equally outrageous long range score with the outside of the boot.

Not that he ever got the All Ireland medal that such talent and commitment deserved. But sure how many lads can we say that about?

MacDonald is one of a select band of exceptional Gaelic footballers who have the qualities that mark them down as something special, iconic, and among them are quite a few Ulster men.

Peter Canavan and Kieran McGeeney would make that list for very different reasons £ one for his footballing genius and sheer will to win, the other for his single-mindeness and almost superhuman dedication to the cause.

Derry’s All Ireland winning team had at least two men who would have been worthy of consideration - Kieran McKeever and Tony Scullion, two truly outstanding defenders - while it would have been impossible to imagine Donegal reaching the promised land without Martin McHugh’s leadership and individual brilliance.

A case could probably be made for Greg Blaney, the brains behind Down’s success in the early 90s although in fairness he could count on some pretty decent players around him.

But there are others who could just as easily make it into the hall of fame who have found themselves in the same sorry place as MacDonald, that place inhabited by Greatest Players who Never Won an All Ireland.

Enda Muldoon is one such man who doesn’t need MacDonald to remind him that time waits for no man.

Like MacDonald and Maurice Fitz, Big Enda is, if not one in a million, pretty damn close. Muldoon has it all - the brain, the athleticism, the repertoire of skills, be it fielding, passing, free taking. Maybe the one facet missing from his game over the years was that he lacked that bit of dog that can sometimes make the difference between winning and losing.

Derry people would say that Sean Marty Lockhart is another outstanding and long-serving servant who could go the same way as MacDonald, though you might argue that Kevin McGuckin better fits the bill as one of the most complete, most consistent defenders in the country over the past number of years.

The Ballinderry man is still on the right side of 30 but he’s been on the Derry scene long enough to know that 2008 could very well be his best ever chance of winning an All Ireland. These chances don’t come around all that often and Derry’s supposed hegemony in Ulster might not last too long.

The odd time you get a happy ending, as with McGeeney and Canavan, but more often than not life’s not like that. And Ireland’s littered with great players left with very little to show for their years of service.

As we start out on another All Ireland campaign there are plenty of exceptional players who must surely know that this is the last throw of the dice. For some it’s an All Ireland or bust, for others an Ulster would be as good as it gets. In a game which has become more about methodology than the brilliance of any one individual there aren’t too many Kieran MacDonalds still plying their trade.

All the more reason why, even allowing for the usual Ulster enmities, we shouldn’t begrudge the likes of Muldoon any success that might come his way between now and September.

And if the League final is anything to go on maybe this is one story that will have a Happy Enda!