NAME: Dermot Heaney DATE OF BIRTH: 27/7/71 HEIGHT: 6ft 1" WEIGHT: 13st 12lbs CLUB: Castledawson St. Malachys COUNTY: Derry HONOURS: 2 All-Ireland Under 16 Vocational Schools winners medals; 2 Ulster Under 16 Vocational Schools winners medals; Ulster and All-Ireland Minor winners medals PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT: JP McElhone Ltd., Castledawson TOUGHEST OPPONENT: Plunkett Donaghy FAVOURITE GROUNDS: Croke Park (unbeaten), Glen FAVOURITE POSITION: Midfield SPORTING AMBITION: To win a club championship and win an All-Ireland senior title DO YOU PLAY ANY OTHER SPORTS? A bit of golf and snooker FAVOURITE PLAYER: Colm O'Rourke BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON CAREER: My uncle Eamon (taught me football at a young age) DISLIKES ABOUT THE GAA: Subs not being allowed to kick around at half time and managers having to sit in the dug-outs BEST GAME SEEN: Mayo v Cork - 1989 All-Ireland senior final HOPES FOR 1992: To win a club championship and All-Ireland championship ARE YOU RELATED TO THE DERRY CENTRE HALF FORWARD, EUGENE HEANEY? Yes, Eugene is my cousin TYRONE CAUSED A SURPRISE BY BEATING DERRY IN THIS YEAR'S ULSTER UNDER 21 CHAMPIONSHIP. QUITE A NUMBER OF PLAYERS FROM THAT CLASH WILL BE INVOLVED IN SUNDAY'S GAME. DID THAT UNDER 21 SETBACK UPSET MORALE AMONGST THE YOUNGER MEMBERS OF THE DERRY CAMP? No, because it's two different teams (only a small amount of the under 21s on senior panel) YOUR VIEWS ON BIG MIDFIELD PARTNER, BRIAN MCGILLIGAN: Brian is a big strong player and does a lot of work. We combine well together. He gives me freedom to move forward YOU AND BRIAN GENERALLY HAD THE UPPER HAND OF THE MEATH PAIRING IN THE SEMI-FINAL. WERE YOU SURPRISED AT THE WEAK MEATH CHALLENGE IN THIS SECTOR? I wasn't surprised because we worked very hard at midfield and our half forwards and half backs helped me a lot by picking up breaking balls TELL US ABOUT YOUR CLUB - CASTLEDAWSON: Castledawson is a small club in south Derry. I have been playing in the senior team from the age of 15 and have never won the county championship but we have some good young players coming through and we will be hoping to do so very soon RIVALRY BETWEEN DERRY AND TYRONE IS EQUAL TO ANY IN ITS INTENSITY OVER THE YEARS. HAVE YOU A RELATIONSHIP WITH ANY OF THE TYRONE PLAYERS OR SUPPORTERS? I played and won an Ulster All-Ireland Under 16 with Fay Devlin who plays left half back for Tyrone. He was midfield and I was full forward at the time IS TALK IN DERRY ALL ABOUT THE BIG GAME AT THE MOMENT? Yes, all the players and supporters are looking forward to the big game FINALLY, CAN YOU BEAT TYRONE ON SUNDAY? We can beat Tyrone if we play with the same grit and determination that we showed against Meath but it won't be easy Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 1st May 1992 Vol 2 No 53 Tweet

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