By Alan Rodgers

THE goalkeeper’s role in the modern game of gaelic football has continued to evolve to the point where they are now accepted as having perhaps the most influential role in a game.

On Saturday night last, the performance of Tyrone’s Niall Morgan in their 1-10 to 1-7 victory over the All-Ireland champions Dublin emphasised the point. Four scores from frees proved absolutely crucial as the Red Hands earned an absolutely crucial victory.

The Edendork clubman has become renowned for such performances during a career that now spans seven years with the Red Hands. Long gone now are the days when the player in the number one jersey was often just there to fill a space, without even having the responsibility of taking the kick-outs.

In the immediate aftermath of last Saturday night’s win at Healy Park, just as Storm Jorge began to settle, Morgan reflected on his own role and what had inspired him to really go all out for the win over Dublin.

“Young Patrick Trainor is part of the Dungannon Allstars drama group and he gave me a good pep talk on Friday night before their form. It inspired a good performance the following night,” the St Malachy’s clubman said.

“He just said to me how much it would mean to him as a fan for us to beat Dublin, especially after the disappointment of the Galway game. It was enough to make me realise even more what the fans go through whilst supporting us.

“Last week was borderline embarrassing for us boys and we knew that there was a lot more in the tank to give. We owed it to the people who travelled down to Galway last week and sat to endure that basically.

“Every time you pull on the Tyrone jersey it’s about taking pride in your own performance. If Mickey (Harte) gives me the responsibility of going up to hit the free kicks, then it’s up to me to go and do that.

“The win over Dublin was about getting a bit of redemption for the performance against Galway, but just because we beat them doesn’t mean that we’ve any right to beat them in Croke Park later on the year. We’ll not be taken anything for granted.”

One of the highlights of Saturday night’s win was the four frees hit by Morgan which made such a crucial difference to the Tyrone win. It has become a key part of his game, helped no doubt by his outfield role with Edendork at club level.

However, the spectacular points against the wind didn’t happen by mere chance. Instead, they are the product of practice and visualisation over the course of a career which has also seen him line out with Dungannon Swifts.

“I’ve spent time reading different books, including one called ‘Superstitionism’ by a man called David White who interviewed me for it. It was to do with kicking routines and how they should be null and void.

“I went away from the same routine, just taking things different like a shorter run for the close-in frees or a bit of momentum for the further out frees.

“All goalkeepers and even kickers in general could learn a lot from the fact that it’s about technique rather than this whole craic of needing to drive the ball as far as you can. You have to learn from everyone you watch. Michael Murphy is one of the best strikers of a ball around, Bryan Sheehan was the same and wouldn’t have been a stickler for the same routine.”