Niall McCusker

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Niall McCusker
Personal information
Sport Gaelic football
Irish Name Niall Mac Oscair
Place of birth County Londonderry , Northern Ireland
Nickname(s) Big Niall
Club information
Club Ballinderry
Position Full back
Club(s)*
Club Years Apps (scores)
Ballinderry ?-Present ?
Club Titles
Derry Titles 3
Ulster Titles 1
All-Ireland 1
Inter-County
County Derry
Position Full back
Inter-County(ies)**
County Years Apps (scores)
Derry 1998-Present ?
NFL 2

* club appearances and scores
correct as of .
**Inter County team apps and scores correct
as of .

Niall McCusker (Irish: Niall Mac Oscair) is an Irish Gaelic footballer who plays for Derry, with whom he has won the National League twice. He is seen as a tough, old-fashioned full-back, but is versatile and can play in almost any position. Adrian McGuckin said of McCusker "He has a great footballing brain, his positional sense is unreal and he never wastes a ball".[1] Fellow Derry full back and captain Kevin McCloy says "I'd rather run into a train than run into Niall McCusker".[2]

McCusker plays his club football for Ballinderry Shamrocks. He was instrumental in helping Ballinderry win the 2002 All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship. He has also won three Derry Championships and an Ulster Senior Club Football Championship with the club.

Contents

[edit] Football career

[edit] Inter-county

McCusker made his Derry Senior debut in 1998.[1] In 2000 he won the National League with Derry, defeating Meath in the final.[3] McCusker was named Derry vice-captain for 2005[4] He sat out the 2006 and 2007 campaign, but was recalled for the 2008 campaign.[5] He was part of the Derry team that won the 2008 National League where Derry beat Kerry in the final.[6][7] He was instrumental in the final where he marked Kieran Donaghy and kept him scoreless, and in fact outscored him when he scored a great 50 metre point.

[edit] Club

McCusker has been on the Ballinderry senior team since he was 17.[1]

In 1998 McCusker was part of the Ballinderry team that won the All-Ireland Kilmacud Crokes Sevens Championship. After losing two finals in a row to Bellaghy in 1999 and 2000, Ballinderry won the 2001 Derry Senior Championship defeating Bellaghy in the decider. The club went on to win the 2001 Ulster Club Championship with victories over St. Gall's, Cavan Gaels and Mayobridge. Ballinderry went on to represent Ulster in the All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship, which they won defeating Tir Chonaill Gaels (London) in the quarter-final, Rathnew (Wicklow) in the semi-final and Nemo Rangers (Cork) in the final. McCusker played a great game in that final, marking Nemo's main scoring threat Colin Corkery.[8][1]

Ballinderry defended the Derry Championship in 2002, but lost in the semi-final stage of the Ulster Club Championship to Errigal Ciarán

McCusker was once again runner-up in the Derry Championship in 2003, losing to An Lúb in the final. He gained his third Derry Championship medal in 2006 with the club. Ballinderry once again reached the Ulster Club final, but lost narrowly to Crossmaglen Rangers. For the 2007 season McCusker was captain of Ballinderry. In 2008 McCusker and Ballinderry won the Ulster Senior Club Football League.

[edit] Honours

[edit] County

[edit] Club

[edit] Individual

  • Ballinderry Senior football captain: 2007

Note: The above lists may be incomplete. Please add any other honours you know of.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Scott, Ronan. "McCusker - The original article", Gaelic Life, 2008-03-19. Retrieved on 2008-03-31. 
  2. ^ Archer, Kenny. "McCloy out to smash the Ulster title duopoly", The Irish News, 2008-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-06-01. 
  3. ^ Derry Football Roll Of Honour. Official Derry GAA website. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
  4. ^ McCallion, Chris. "Decent men Erne praise from Moran", Daily Ireland, 2005-02-15. Retrieved on 2008-06-09. 
  5. ^ McCusker returns to Derry panel. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-01.
  6. ^ Derry 2-13 Kerry 2-09 2008 National League Final report. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  7. ^ Derry 2-13 Kerry 2-09 2008 National League Final report - Derry GAA website. Derry GAA website. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
  8. ^ Ballinderry are champions. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-03-31.


v • d • e
Derry Senior Football Team
1 J. Deighan | 2 K. McGuckin (V. cap.) | 3 K. McCloy (Cap.) | 4  F. McEldowney  | 5 L. Hinphey  | 6 M. McBride | 7 M. McIver | 8 E. Muldoon | 9 J. Conway | 10 M. Lynch | 11 P. Murphy | 12 B.McGoldrick | 13 C. Gilligan | 14 P. Bradley 
15 | E. Bradley 
Subs: M. Friel for P. Murphy, | C. Devlin for E. Bradley | G. O’Kane for M. McBride | J. Diver for M. Lynch | J. Keenan for M. McIver
Manager: Paddy Crozier
(Team as of 30 March 2008 versus Galway)
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