37 year old Paddy Linden has every intention of continuing between the Ballybay and Monaghan sticks Just three years short of two score, Ballybay's Paddy Linden refuses to wave a firm goodbye to premier class, grade A standard football. Bewitched by it's sheer competitiveness, smitten by the aura of sociability which surrounds it, he now clings to it. The dare-devil goalkeeper will bid "Au Revoir' only. No more, no less, writes Kevin Carney. Eleven years after nearly saying goodbye to his life on earth, the oldest swinger on the town team's first XV is far from ready to carry a raincoat with him on match days. Anyone that can come back from what was rumoured to be the scrapheap in 1981 isn't easily melted when the heat is turned up at team training sessions. Eleven seasons after a horrendous car accident left him with serious internal injuries, the Pearse Brothers stopper is still playing like something bionic. Just over a year ago, Linden played in what many supporters from Monaghan reckoned would be his last ever Ulster senior championship match. That was against Derry in Celtic Park when a Derry team used Monaghan to begin a roll which would reap a National League title less than 12 months later. Not for the first time, the Ballybay battler accepted defeat and subsequent criticism fairly and squarely on the chin. Back he came the following spring to play the proverbial blinders against Donegal and Down in the 1992 McKenna Cup campaign. Granted, Paddy was a stand-in on both occasions but would you argue about joining ranks with Mickey McQuillen of Meath or Down's Pat Doonan? In team manager Liam Stirrat's shake-up of the county panel in the autumn of 1991, Paddy Linden was notified of the consequences of John O'Connor's claims for the goalkeeper jersey. The Clones netminder was clearly identified as the team's goalkeeper for the future, the guy best able for the haul back to prominence in the province and in the country. Linden appreciated the team manager's politeness and courtesy in being spoken to about the county's long term policy. A nephew of the late, great Cavan player Jack Smallhorn, he accepted the manager's decision with respect, understanding and with a great deal of sentiment. The end of an era for him seemed almost tangible on the horizon. He would not be taking part in the 1992 Ulster championship. Linden displays a generosity many full forwards would find hard to digest when asked to assess the validity of O'Connor's claims on the number 1 jersey. He declares unequivocally that his apparent successor on the Monaghan county side will make the goalkeeper\s jersey his very own in time. "He's got the height for the job, a great pair of hands and reads the game very well," explained the Church Street resident. A tour de force in Ballybay's spirited senior championship battles this year, Paddy Linden backs Monaghan's youth policy to the hilt. Momentarily, put on the shelf, he'd like to remain in the county's display window for another while. After nearly two decades under the spotlight, reconciliation with the cold storage department wouldn't come easy. Life as a reserve, a compromise position on the bench would do. "If the call came for me to rejoin the county set up as the team's reserve goalie, I'd definitely make myself available. It'd be difficult enough to sit and watch a match from the bench after so long being a part of the team on the field but I'd still make myself available." Making himself available, three years away from joining up with Monaghan's over forties crew, sort of completes the circle for Ballybay's sometime corner back. Acknowledging that eh wasn't hectic outfield as a youngster he'd "play anywhere as long as I got a game." Joe McMahon, one of the main men involved in the Ballybay-Drumhowan Murray Cup amalgamation side, invited the young Linden to try his hand between the sticks. Grabbing the chance of secure employment, the pint-sized youngster duly obliged and a burgeoning career was given birth. Alongside the likes of Kieran Finlay and Gerry Duffy, the Tullycorbet parish combination clinched a Murry Cup title and shaped like they were about to sweep the boards at underage level within the county. It didn't work out that way however, and there was no overnight success in the tail either for the enthusiastic and recently-recruited net minder. Denied an airing at minor county level, a trail with the Monaghan under 21 side failed to gain Linden a berth ahead of Clones goalkeeper Gerry McGarry on the county team. They were frustrating times and ones requiring patience The Ballybay number one would learn quickly to accommodate both frustration in due time. One of the fastest keepers off his line during his prime, incredibly Linden's first appearance in a county jersey was at senior level. It was a cap that fitted cozily and was well earned. An apprenticeship served under clubmate and former county and Railway Cup star Paul McCarthy prepared him well for season upon season of life under pressure at the highest level. Relocated up into the forward line for Ballybay's replayed 1975 county champions final against Casleblayney Faugh's, McCarthy's position in goals was handed to his understudy. Despite the chance debut, Linden did enough in his side's defeat, to prove that the mettle was in place and the nerve taut enough to make a rewarding career as the last man in defence a real possibility. In Linden's early days as the team's number one goalkeeper, success only arrived on one occasion. In 1978, Ballybay won the county Division One League title. It would take another eight years to arrest another. Thankfully, for the ambitious man in black, colleagues like McCarthy, Paddy Kerr, Eamonn McAleer and Damien McBride toned his game, smoothed the rough edges enough to warrant selection on the county team in 1978. Taking over from the aforementioned McGarry and under the supervision of new boss Sean McCague, Linden had a real baptism of fire as he recalls: "The handpass was all the go at the time and the game then was much faster than it is now. It needed a hell of a concentration to see what was going on. Unfortunately four goals whizzed by me against Antrim in Casement Park but somehow I held on to my place on the team." Like Clare of recent times and Down of yesteryear, Monaghan created something of a sensation by winning the 1979 Ulster senior championship. Like seawood clinging to a rock amidst gushing seas, Linden was like an immovable object on that team, imperious to all attempts to dislodge his composure and so deny an historic win. A Railway Cup medal the following year aided and abetted his growing reputation as an able-bodied custodian of all that was safe and sure within Monaghan's rearguard. What promised to be a logical step forward in building a richly rewarding early career turned into a nightmare scenario as a result of a car crash. In it's aftermath, Linden's appetite for the game he so enjoyed disintegrated. The gradh was suddenly missing for some time after the accident, the one-time regular job out to Pearse Park (11/2 miles outside Ballybay town) was ruled out due to lack of interest. Eighteen months recuperation took it's toll on the naturally athletic Linden, both physically and psychologically. Despite coming back into the county frame as early as late '82, the Ballybay stalwart admits that he erred in rushing his recovery. "Looking back on it, I came back far too quickly and wasn't at all ready for inter county standard. I had lost over two and a half stone while I was out of action but I had lost much more than that. I had lost a lot of my momentum, confidence and overall, it didn't work out for me when I came back from the injuries." In truth, it wasn't until he had won back his place on the Ulster championship winning side of 1985 that Linden could truly say that the equilibrium pre '81 was recovered. Psychologically, everything was A1 again too. Locals who had attempted to bestow credit on Linden and co for their heroics in pushing Kerry to an All-Ireland semi final replay in '85 knew that too. The Ballybay warrior would credit for victory only, not a good second place. Now a guru to youngsters at the local club like Joe Sullivan and David Moen, Paddy Linden rates his national league medal of '85 as his most prized possession. Despite adding another Ulster medal in 1988 to his earlier double, he knows that provincial medals invariably do the rounds among Ulster counties, but national medals only come the way of comets. A senior county championship medal winner in 1987 with the Pearse Brothers to follow up on his '86 county league medal, Paddy Linden became a household name in GAA circles across the country in 1988. That was the year when the then 33 year old captured Ulster, County and Railway Cup medals, plus an All Star award in a tremendous hat trick of personal achievements. It was also the year when over half a million people witnessed him saving a perfectly struck Larry Tompkins penalty in the All-Ireland semi final. It was a 12th minute save which seemed to steady his troops at the time but unfortunately the Munster champions proceeded to deny Linden and partners the All-Ireland final place they earnestly deserved. The team's defeat marked the end of an era. In between his county exploits, Paddy Linden has tasted bitter defeat on too many occasions for a man's own good. The glorious knock-out win in '87 masked depressing losses to Castleblayney and Scotstown on two occasion each. Still, cliches are made for such occasions. Paddy obliges with honest, good humour. "The good times far outweigh the bad times. I've had a good innings". It's beholding on any decent scribe worth his salt to put the "to date" part in italics. Rumours of Paddy Linden's retirement have been greatly exaggerated,, methinks! Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 31st July 1992 Tweet

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