Football in 50's
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Football in St. Eunan's in the 1950's
Cavan teams had the indian sign on Donegal teams for a long time and after St. Pat's Cavan beat St. Eunan's College in 1952 by 10-03 to 1-07 there were rumours that St. Eunan's would withdraw quietly from Ulster Colleges' competitions.
The rumours faded away however when John Wilson was appointed to the teaching staff of St. Eunan's College and began training the College teams. Ironically he was a Cavan man with an All-Ireland medal that he won in the Polo Grounds, New York (the only Final to be played outside Ireland). He concentrated first on the U-16 team and brought them to the Ulster Final in March 1953. One year later he brought the U-16 to the final again and this time secured a first ever Ulster victory.
In September 1955 he began to prepare the Senior Team for the biggest prize in Ulster, the Mc Rory Cup. Training every evening with two long afternoon sessions on Wednesdays and Sundays he brought the team to match fitness in a short time. Short distance running and sprinting always preceded football and never took place on its own. A few days before each match he brought us together and outlined the styles of play to be expected from the opposition. His preparation was carefully done ensuring that our team's energy was reserved for the match and not left behind on the training ground.
The first big test came against St. Pat's Cavan and with the previous defeat still rankling we took them apart. John Campbell and Anton Mc Gettigan gave the best display of Colleges football that I ever saw. Campbell scored a point from near the sideline using a drop kick. It remains in my mind as if it were yesterday. Watching the match were two of the local club players who had played regularly for Donegal against Cavan teams and could not believe what was happening. As the goals increased to 4 and the points to 11 one of them had tears in his eyes. At long last a Donegal team had not only beaten a Cavan team but had hammered them.
After the match John Wilson went through his usual routine with us. He pointed out what we did right, what we didn't and he did it all quietly.
The month of March rolled around again and again for the third year in a row it was final time. Our opponents were St. MacCartan's of Monaghan who had already beaten us in the competition with a disputed goal. Before a large crowd in Omagh they built up a commanding lead by half time. With the wind in our backs in the second half we equalised. With 10 minutes to go MacCartan's snatched their only score of the second half. They were now a point in front and we missed a 14-yard free, they ran out winners.
I think that St. Eunan's captured the attention of the other Colleges in Ulster for the first time. We had developed a style that was attractive to watch whether in defeat or victory. Getting to 3 Ulster Colleges final in 3 years with a victory in one of them (U-16) had given a boost to the school and had introduce us to a style of football that seemed unique in the country.
Five of the Mc Rory Cup team was chosen to play for Ulster in the Inter-provincial series. This was as much a tribute to the coach as to the players themselves.
Hugh Strain.
Gaelic Football
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