The best surprise any young goalkeeper could get.
Growing up, and giving away my age, John O’Leary, Packie Bonner and Peter Schmeichel were my heroes. All three goalkeepers were fearless in their own way and absolutely vital to their team’s cause.
O’Leary didn’t wear gloves in the Dublin goal. Bonner and Schmeichel did but Les Sealey’s colourful Sondicos were always the best.
Every weekend, myself and my friend, who was also a goalkeeper, would visit the sports shops to try on gloves we’d never be able to afford. Just to feel what it was like to wear a proper, expensive pair.
Gloves never make the goalkeeper, of course, but they can make you feel pretty damn unbeatable.
So we can imagine the sheer thrill young Tyrone fan Paudie Faulkner must have got from receiving a personalised pair of goalkeeper gloves from Niall Morgan, this week. The 26-year-old is known for sporting flashy boots on the pitch but, as many Tyrone supporters will tell you, he is as humble and hard-working as they come, where football is concerned.
Morgan helped in the design of a class pair of Precision Goalkeeping gloves, earlier this year, and wore them all the way to the All-Ireland semi finals before Dublin eliminated his Tyrone side. While Morgan had no chance against Con O’Callaghan’s rifled goal, he performed admirably on a difficult afternoon for Mickey Harte’s men.
Ahead of the release of the gloves he wore, and test-fielded, all summer, Morgan made Faulkner’s year with a very special gesture. He wrote:
‘A huge thank you to Precision Goalkeeping for helping me with sorting this young man, Paudie Faulkner, with their soon to be released Gaelic Goalkeeper glove. It was class to help them with designing this glove and I was delighted to wear it this year. Looking forward to its release soon!’
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYt2dYrAURI/?taken-by=niallmorgan01
It was such a simple, kind move from Morgan but one that the young Tyrone supporter, and aspiring goalie, will not forget in a hurry.
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