GAY SHEERIN A MODEST, REASSURING PRESENCE BETWEEN THE POSTS The story of how Gay Sheerin came to be a 'keeper is a classic illustration of G.A.A. amateurism at it's most endearing: he was, as he says himself, "stuck into goals" before an under 16 final having played all his football a half back up to then. Just like that, all out of the blue and with no previous form - "stuck into the goals A year later he was playing in goals for his club, junior team St. Ronan's and from there was selected for the minor county team. "And once you played goalie for the county, there was no going back," says Gay. He did, however, reassert his outfield instincts with his club a year later and has been playing for his club outfield ever since. But the main story of his football career is a 'keeper and the story began in earnest back in the spring of '77 when he broke in the county team during the National League. Roscommon won the Connacht title that year but Gay had lost his place by championship time to the first choice keeper Gerry O'Dowd. By 1978, however, he had secured the number one jersey and had won the first of five Connacht titles that year, courtesy of two Mickey Frayne goals against Galway. And so, in August of that year, with his apprenticeship barley begun, he stood as the last line of defence against Kerry and one of the most awesome forward lines ever assembled. Sheehy, Liston, Egan, Power, Moran, Spillane, take your pick but for Sheerin, the most fearsome was Sheehy (for Paddy Cullen it was the marvellous John Egan). "Sheehy was the most difficult to confront. He would always beat you. He could chip you, handpass or sidefoot it. He was virtually impossible to block, especially then when you could score a goal with a handpass. Nowadays you must score a goal from the foot and it takes the the extra half second to get it to the foot so you have some chance." And that half second was all he needed two sundays ago when he pulled of three critical first half saves to deny Leitrim certain goals and keep Roscommon in the game that would have gone away from them had those chances been converted. Each save was a paragon, a model of textbook one-on-one goalkeeper: the refusal to commit, the decision to stay upright and the lightning quick assessment of each situation as it unfolded. The assessment was correct all three occasions and so, therefore, was his positioning as each shot was unleashed. When Sheerin describes how he actually read one situation, the clarity of his mind in a crisis becomes apparent. "Well, in one of Liam Conlon's chances he came charging through on the left, I saw Gavin (Enon) coming across and reckoned Liam would have to check and turn aside so I readied myself for that. When he did turn inside I knew it was my chance and I was able to get down and block him." And that's the mental process that preceded each save: a 'keeper, clearly, at the peak of his powers and summoning all he has ever learned about angles, positioning and shot-stopping to prevent goals. But would he have made those saves ten years ago? "Probably not - I probably would not have summed it up as well ten years ago. One of the big pluses for me is that I played outfield for my club. The ball handling is a great help and, if you're in a tight situation, sometimes you can anticipate what forward is going to do because you have been in that position yourself. I often play outfield during training sessions - in fact, I don't practice that much in goals at all". In 1979 Gay's fledgling career received a setback when he was dropped in preference to Roscommon Gael's John McDermott. Roscommon took their third Connacht title in a row that year but also lost their third All-Ireland semi final in a row, this time losing to Dublin by the narrowest of margins. It was a game Roscommon should have won, Gay maintains and had they played Kerry in the final that year, he is convinced they would have won it the year after. That was 1980, of course, and by then he had reclaimed the goalkeeping position having secured it in a challenge match against Cavan at the opening of the Cloone pitch of May of that year. He remembers little of that tumultuous final - "The concentration level was so high that it passed me by" - except Roscommon's fuel injected start, the missed chances from free's and Sheehy's handpassed goal. After that peak an ageing Roscommon's team went into rapid decline. The best full back line he ever played behind - Keegan, Lindsay and Heneghan - had already begun to fragment with Heneghan retiring before the '80 campaign, having won a National League medal in '79. His subsequent replacement, Gerry Connellan, was however a "great find" according to Gay. In 1981 they lost to Sligo and the break-up of a team that had reached the end of its natural life accelerated: Donnellan, O'Gara, Finneran, Frayne and the charismatic John O Connor departed to be followed by the leaders of the team, Early and Lindsay, who lasted until '85.By the time of the second coming in 1990 only two remained - Sheerin and McManus. The 1980's meanwhile, had truly been the lost decade for Roscommon footballers and followers. Gay opted out of the scene in 1983 to build his house (he's plasterer by trade but works as a sales rep for Lakeland Dairies). When he turned it was only to turn to more defeats, including three Connacht final defeats to Mayo in '85, '88 and '89 - and all three in Hyde Park. The biggest personal disappointment for Gay in all that time was the 1986 Connacht Final against Galway. "We had been out of the Connacht final since 1980. We were two points up with three minutes left. Harry (Keegan) had gone off and Stephen Joyce had come in for Galway. He had got a ball at the edge of the square - I saved his shot but the ball popped back into his hands and he buried it. That was probably the lowest point in my career." The decade went by in a blur of defeats and having lost the last two Connacht Finals of the 80's, they welcomed in the nineties by winning the first two, beating Galway in '90 and Mayo after a replay in '91. "It's hard to believe it - you'd wonder what we were at the previous ten years," Gay reflects. The team was still developing both years and lost All-Ireland semi-finals to more mature teams in Cork and Meath. It's the familiar pattern of progress: first the provincial breakthrough after a spell in the wilderness followed by a semi-final defeat Croke Park and then the absolute necessity of winning the province for the second year running. Roscommon duly came out of Connacht again in '91 having come a step nearer to completing the jigsaw by discovering Enon Gavin and Derek Duggan that same year. But again they returned from Croke Park empty handed having lost to the ultimate battle-hardened machine - Meath. "That was a game I couldn't see us losing. Our confidence was sky-high and we'd done everything right," he says. With the natural life cycle of a team at or near the top usually lasting four years, it is vital for this Roscommon team to peak this year and go all the way to Croke Park in September. Now in its third year, it remains to be seen whether last year's semi-final against Meath was in fact the team's peak. Mayo await them in the Connacht Final on July 26 in Castlebar, a venue which Gay says has always been king to Roscommon. But, at 36, the years have been kind to him. Standing six feet and carrying no excess, he is set to go on for some time yet. Nor is he an exception in this regard in this regard for all the great goalies have lasted well into there thirties, including the ones he admired the most - Brian McAlinden of Armagh, Paddy Linden of Monaghan and Martin Furlong of Offaly - the original long distance man. "Furlong gave every goalie a lease of life. He played 'till he was 37 and once one fellow did it, it meant we could too. It's taken for granted now that you can't last in goals well into your thirties and I've great respect for all the guys who've spent a long time at it. Besides, if you're doing the business I don't see why you shouldn't be there." Nevertheless, it's been 16 seasons since he first pulled on a senior jersey and surely there were times when he felt like packing it in, especially during the '80's? Once or twice he agrees, but he got tremendous support and encouragement from his wife Mary. "If it wasn't for Mary, I think I might have given it up years ago - she's been behind me all the way," he says. They have two children, Daniel (12) and Renagh (10). But while Gay has been restored to the limelight after his performance against Leitrim, he knows it's only a fleeting glimpse. For despite those endless kickouts, the best goalies - like the best referees - tend to be unobtrusive, doing the business without fuss and only catching the spotlight once or twice a season with a thrilling save. That's how it's been for Gay and that's how he will go on - a modest, reassuring presence between the posts. Taken from Hogan Stand magazine 10th July 1992 Tweet

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