MAGHNUS THe ‘KEEPER WHO RAN and ran

Goal keeper Maghnus Breathnach was a relatively new face in the Galway set- up when he took off upfield at Croke Park and didn’t stop until he hit the Cork ‘45 in a Round 4 qualifier in 2013.

The An Spideál clubman (right) had started a new trend.

“I was playing outfield for the club, where Pádraig Lally was our keeper, so I was playing a lot at midfield and centre forward and that was how it kicked off,” Breathnach explained.

“It was a tool I had, so I thought I might as well use it. I was fit and athletic and I was comfortable on the ball.

“I had no problem coming off the shoulder to a lad to support them.

“There was never any instruction from management to do it, it was just off the cuff.

“I was never told not to do it either.

“Alan Mulholland was the manager and that was the last game of the championship.

Tearing

“He couldn’t believe what he was seeing – me absolutely tearing up the pitch and Alan O’Connor sprinting a hundred miles an hour after me.

“I started on our own 14 and got up to the far 45, back into Michael Meehan and it should have been a free- in but he got done for steps so I had to sprint all the way back in again.

“My legs were on fire.” Meehan made that game famous for another reason, his stunning free- kick beat Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke and nine outfield players behind him, to hit the roof of the net.

However, t was Breathnach’s exploits that day that set the tone for a new approach to goalkeeping in the modern era.

“I am looking forward to seeing how Conor Flaherty goes with Galway now,” he said.

“He is a similar mould, very comfortable coming out with the ball as well,” said Breathnach.

“That is the way the game is going. It’s going to be a keeper that is as good as an outfielder. Kick- outs are so important and being comfortable on the ball.

“If a keeper can create an overlap now and rattle a point over the bar, it’s an unbelievable thing to have in your locker.

“Monaghan really use it effectively and Tyrone now too.”

The 30-year- old Garda has also been punished by the dreaded lob.

There were 26 minutes gone in the All- Ireland intermediate club semifinal in January 2019, when Breathnach soloed up- field for An Spidéal, who were trailing 2- 4 to 0- 4 against Naomh Éanna.

“It was a handpass I didn’t want, I was literally gone, I didn’t want the pass at all, it went straight through my hands,” said Breathnach.

“Your man got it, turned and shot, about 50 metres out. It was a serious finish but it was a hard luck.

“It’s awful disappointing but you just have to get on with it again.

“It didn’t deter me coming out with the ball after that. I am still doing it.

“If I didn’t do it in the county final, we wouldn’t have won.

“It works out well sometimes and it doesn’t other times, that’s how things go.”

Breathnach still plays with his club, while this year he and Fiona Wynne are joint- managers of the Galway

Ladies footballers.

“It’s very good, Fiona is top class,” said Breathnach.

“We really bounce off each other well, constantly talking to each other on the phone thinking about how we can make things better and improve the team.

“She brings a different dynamic and skillset than I would have.

“It’s great to be learning from her and we are improving the whole time.

“She knows what it takes as well.

“To go and win an AllIreland, she has walked the walk.

“She knows what she is on about.”