Paddy McGrath

Paddy McGrath
Personal information
Irish name Pádraig Mac Craith
Sport Gaelic football
Position Left Corner Back
Born (1989-02-02) 2 February 1989
Ardara, County Donegal
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Occupation Construction manager
Club(s)
Years Club
Ardara
Inter-county(ies)
Years County
2010-present Donegal
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles 3
All-Irelands 1

Paddy McGrath (born 2 February 1989) is an Irish sportsperson. He plays Gaelic football with his local club Ardara and has been a member of the Donegal senior inter-county team since 2010.

Playing career

McGrath, along with Ardara teammates Conor Classon and Peter McNelis,[1] was part of the Donegal U21 squad which qualified for the All-Ireland U21 Final, losing out to Dublin.[2] McGrath played in that game with a broken jaw—manager Jim McGuinness later recalled:

I saw the x-ray myself. Paddy said to the surgeon, 'if I go out and get it broken again, what's the worst that can happen'. The surgeon told him, 'I'll fix it'. Paddy said, 'that's OK then. I'm going to play in the game'. That's the type of person that predominantly wins you football matches and I'm glad to have him in the senior squad.[3]

McGrath won his first senior inter-county medal in 2011—the National Football League Division 2 title. “It's just a league medal and I want to push on now and achieve bigger things,” he said afterwards, upsetting Damien Diver who said he had never won a single medal in all his years with Donegal.[4] McGrath soon added an Ulster Championship to leave Diver languishing further behind in the shade. McGrath then added another the following year. Then he went one better and got his hands on an All-Ireland senior medal. His defensive performance in the 2012 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-final defeat of Kerry, en route to the final, immortality and championship glory, was described in the national media as "exceptional".[5]

Honours

References

  1. ↑ Craig, Frank. "Cadbury's Ulster Under-21 Football final". Ardara.ie. Ardara trio Conor Classon, Paddy McGrath and Peter McNelis all played their part in helping Jim McGuinness' men secure a famous win over the Breffni blues. Both Classon and McGrath were again two of the side's most influential operators - with McNelis entering the fray late in the second half.
  2. ↑ "Donegal get double boost". Hogan Stand. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  3. ↑ "Will McGuinness be good for Donegal?". BBC Sport (BBC). 25 November 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  4. ↑ McNulty, Chris (July 2012). "'Baby Give It Up' for the Ulster champions". Donegal News. Retrieved July 2012. Paddy McGrath spoke of having met Damian Diver after Donegal won the 2011 Division 2 title. “It's just a league medal and I want to push on now and achieve bigger things,” McGrath had told his fellow Ardara man. Diver quickly reminded McGrath that his League medal was ‘one more medal than I ever got’.
  5. ↑ Keys, Colm (6 August 2012). "Donegal eyes on the big prize: McFadden twists knife as curtain falls on illustrious Kingdom era". Irish Independent (Independent News & Media). Retrieved 6 August 2012. Donegal had some exceptional defensive performances, none more so than from Paddy McGrath...

External links

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