September – Sports Personality

SEPTEMBER

PADRAIG McNULTY (GAELIC FOOTBALL)

Dungannon Thomas Clarkes won the Tyrone Senior crown in 1956 and surprisingly they hadn’t won it since. That was until September 2020 when Padraig McNulty led them to the promised land in the most dramatic run and series of results in the history of the competition. Time and again the Clarkes, led by McNulty, overcame the odds to win in extra-time against Loughmacrory, Ardboe and Errigal Ciaran. If they had been a cat, they would only have had six lives left! But the Dungannon side are made of strong stuff and in 28-year-old McNulty they have a leader who enjoys a battle, so they were never going to be worried about facing defending champions Trillick in the decider. They proved more than a worthy adversary, defeating the Reds in a pulsating penalty shoot-out to get their hands on the Paddy O’Neill Cup for the first time in 64 years.

Voting Opens Tuesday 2nd March

2020 Ulster Herald Sports Personality Awards in association with MFC Sports, LIVE winners reveal Wednesday 10th March, 7pm

Padraig was featured in the Ulster Herald on Thursday, November 5, 2020

Clarkes Captain Paudie recalls a special season for Dungannon

BY BARRY O’DONNELL

A few weeks down the line and the warm glow of satisfaction still illuminates O’Neill Park even as winter sets in. An 11th Tyrone Senior Championship title, secured in the most dramatic of circumstances back on September 20th, ensures that Dungannon supporters and players will always reflect back on 2020 with a certain degree of fondness and delight (a rarity indeed in this bleakest of calendar years).

Skipper Padraig McNulty became the first Clarkes man in 64 years to get his hands on the Paddy O’Neill Cup as he raised it high in front of a small but delirious group of fans under the main stand at Healy Park.

The 28-year old led superbly through the course of a remarkable Championship campaign, in which his side were taken to extra-time in all four of their matches, and is a deserved recipient of the Ulster Herald Sports Personality of the Month Award for September.

When Ciaran Barker lashed home the decisive spot-kick to seal a 8-7 penalty shootout victory over reigning champions Trillick in the

Final, after the match had ended 1-12 apiece, it sparked a huge outpouring of emotion. Padraig states that fond memories of that gripping night in Omagh remain vivid.

“It seems a while ago at this stage but the feeling to win it still feels special. It was a great achievement for this town and club, people are still talking about it. It’s a massive thing for us as players and Dungannon as a whole.”

Such a scenario seemed highly implausible back in the first round when the Clarkes trailed Loughmacrory by two points deep into stoppage time but as was to be the pattern throughout their run, Chris Rafferty’s men refused to throw in the towel. They dug themselves out a hole that afternoon in Galbally and displayed the same resolve and indomitable spirit repeatedly during subsequent games against Ardboe, Errigal Ciaran and finally Trillick.

Padraig is aware though that they could easily have made a first round exit at the hands of St Teresa’s;

“In the Loughmacrory game we weren’t good at all. We got out of jail. Loughmacrory should have had us away. When you look back at it they missed chances which could have put the game to bed. Lucky for us they didn’t and we got the chance to equalise. We got it to extra-time and the rest is history as they say.

“It’s mad thinking back that we were in four matches that all went to extra-time and we came out on top in every one of them. That will probably never happen again in any Championship at any level.”

While the Clarkes were deemed rank outsiders coming into the Championship, Padraig insisted that the squad were bullish about their own prospects. “At the start of the year we set our goal to try and win every game. We began well in the league and it just carried on from there. We wanted to make sure we were always there or thereabouts in the last ten minutes to win a game. It just panned out like that too.

“We didn’t set out at the start thinking we could win the overall Championship. We just took it game by game. We knew that we had a decent enough draw in that every team in our quarter would have fancied their chances of reaching the semi-finals.

“So that was the initial aim. Ardboe was a big game for us. Getting over them gave us confidence. Then going into the Errigal Ciaran (semifinal) game we knew it would be a big ask but we felt we had a chance.

“Getting past them gave us massive belief going into the Final and showed that we could compete with the big teams and beat them.” The biggest test of all lay aheadin the final against a star-studded Trillick side which was hugely motivated to defend their title. Padraig acknowledged that the signs looked ominous as the Clarkes got off to a sloppy start.

“Trillick were county champions last year and were going to be a big ask. We had the confidence going in but making that count on the pitch was going to take a huge effort. No doubt early on we looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

We struggled to get a foothold in the game but eventually we did. In the first fifteen minutes Trillick were moving the ball so fast that we couldn’t really get to grips with them at all. Paddy Molloy eventually got our first score which settled us and in the last ten minutes of the half we got a few more scores which meant we were in a better place going in at half-time.”

It was nip and tuck throughout the second half and subsequent two periods of extra-time but with the teams still gridlocked penalties were eventually required. Padraig confessed that they were not an easy watch.

“The penalties was heart wrenching stuff to watch. It’s down to luck no doubt and it could have went either way. There was saves, balls going in off the woodwork, misses. It can be a bit of a lottery at that stage.”

Despite a draining and marathon stretch of games, Padraig was always confident that Dungannon could last the course.

“The momentum carries you through. Even in the final we kept saying to ourselves we have been here before, gone down to the wire, gone to extra-time. We had that base fitness of going the additional twenty minutes in every game. It was nothing new to us. We knew we had it in the tank because we had done it before. That gives you massive confidence when you know you have it there.

“We are a very young team as well. There’s boys who can go hell for leather all day. We had the confidence that we could keep it going all the way through, no matter how long the match.”

And the Clarkes skipper said the significance of the breakthrough triumph could not be underestimated; “It has been too long since we’ve won it and you seen that with the emotions afterwards. It has been 64 years so clearly it was massive for the town. It’s what every club strives for in Tyrone to get their hands on the O’Neill Cup.

“It means everything for the members of the club, all the players, the youth teams, families. You think about former members who sadly are no longer with us. “

It was very emotional. We have plans to develop O’Neill Park and to develop the club as a whole. We got a new gym as well at the start of the year.

“We don’t want this to be a one off achievement. This has to be the springboard to develop the club and to bring through players in the future so that our teams remain competitive and win trophies.”