Martin O’Neill & The Team That Came From Heaven

There are some pains that just don’t give up, that keep coming back at unguarded moments to stop you in your tracks: a broken romance, an unkind word, a lost pet. How about an All-Ireland colleges final in Croke Park, lost with the last kick of the game? This is the memory that seems to haunt Irish soccer manager, Martin O’Neill, and that he keeps harping back to in interviews, articles and memoirs.

By the time of the Hogan Cup final he was their star player and a county minor.

The game in question was the Hogan Cup final of 1970 featuring O’Neill’s side, St. Malachy’s, Belfast and Coláiste Chríost Rí from Turner’s Cross in Cork. The Northern side had swept all before them in Ulster. In fact the team had never lost a game in any competition since they first came together as 12 year-olds, six years earlier. O’Neill didn’t join the school until he was sixteen years old and you can imagine the addition he was to that already successful squad of players. By the time of the Hogan Cup final he was their star player and a county minor.

“That team just came from heaven,”

“That team just came from heaven,” said Eugene Grant, a team-mate of O’Neills, at a ceremony in Stormont last year to celebrate the MacRory Cup, Ulster colleges football competition. “The winning of the MacRory meant more to me that anything else I’ve done in my life. It just stays with you.”

Well, that was the team that Chríost Rí faced as they sallied forth from Capwell Road that April week-end. Their Munster campaign hadn’t exactly set the world on fire and their All-Ireland semi-final had gone to a replay before they stumbled through to the final. To add to their unease, the final was to be a 13-a-side affair, a short-lived experiment that the colleges authorities quietly dropped shortly afterwards.

Before the game started, St. Malachy’s protested to the referee that the Cork team’s jerseys had no numbers. Chriost Rí mentors explained that they had only been delivered to the team’s hotel by O’Neills the previous evening and, anyway, they had no other jerseys with them so the game had to go ahead, numbers or no numbers.

Malachy’s were simply magnificent! We had never seen anything like it and the 13-a-side format gave the Belfast team oceans of space to weave their magic. I stood beside the goal with my camera and my heart was in my mouth as the first half progressed. They tore through our defence like a knife through butter and our only saving grace was they were content to take their points, I presume in the belief that the goals were sure to come. They raced into a seven-point lead before a Billy Field goal steadied our ship somewhat but there was no stopping them and half time couldn’t come quick enough for us to gather our senses.

But wait, our corner forward, Mick McCarthy – What’s he doing back there? – blocks down an attempt at goal

Another Billy Field goal after half time seemed to take the wind out of the Belfast boys’ sail somewhat but they continued to play a flamboyant style of football. However, our lads kept their heads and another goal brought Malachy’s within sight. But with 60 minutes on the clock they were still two points ahead and attacking our goal. I put away my camera and walked slowly back towards our dugout – so near…. but wait, our corner forward, Mick McCarthy – what’s he doing back there? – blocks down an attempt at goal; the ball breaks to Martin O’Doherty who strides forward before unleashing an almighty kick down field. The Malachy’s goalkeeper advances, sees the corner back coming across, both hesitate for an instant and Noel Miller (Praise be his name!) side-foots the ball to the net. Unbelievable! The kickout is taken, the whistle blows, the game is over. We have been in the lead on the scoreboard for exactly 20 seconds!

I’d put it on a par with losing the Championship with Celtic on the final day of the season in 2005.

“That defeat in the Hogan final was a massive disappointment and a game we should never have lost. Coláiste Chríost Rí scored a goal in the last minute – devastating. I’d put it on a par with losing the Championship with Celtic on the final day of the season in 2005. You can say: ‘Well, who’d worry about a college game?’   Well, I do – all the time!”

(Martin O’Neill to Paul Kimmage, Sunday Independent, June 2016)