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19th October 2022
05:22pm BST

Pictured are the six men who have captained Ballybay to Monaghan senior football titles. Paddy McKearney, Sean McKearney, Jim O'Hanlon, Eoin McKearney, Paul Finlay and John Joe McKearney.
What makes it all the sweeter is that, at 93 years young, Eoin's grandad Paddy lived to see this day.
"Granddad never misses a match," Eoin tells SportsJOE.
"I don't know when was the last time he missed a Ballybay match.
"He'll go to other clubs' games as well, anywhere in Monaghan, he'll go to it. If there's a game on the tv, he'll see it, he just loves football. So he'd be giving me plenty of advice all the time too."
Eoin never has to look too far for advice. He could get it from anywhere.
"I was delighted at first when I was asked (to be captain) And after then, I was thinking about it and I was like, we have Paul Finlay here, the Wylies and the McGuinness' and lads like that who have been around for a long time and have a lot more experience than me.
"But I tried to just think of it as another role and play my part on the field and hope that would be enough to be a captain's role. Some people think it's about talking and inspirational speeches and so on. I'm just good at guessing the coin-toss right!"
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McKearney got more than the coin-toss right on Sunday, kicking a point from wing back in their 1-11 to 1-8 win over Scotstown and he says that the feeling afterwards was something other-worldly.
"To get that photo with the lads, and with Paul and Jim, every man that has captained Ballybay to win a senior championship, that was just brilliant. It was something special and it was emotional there at the final whistle. It was emotional for every one of us.
"I tried not to think too much about it beforehand because you can get wrapped up in the emotion and let it overcome you a little bit. But after, when that whistle blew, just pure elation.
"It was said a couple of times afterwards now that the McKearneys are lucky captains but look, it was a nice privilege to have and thank God we have a trophy now because that's what you play for."
An unassuming character, McKearney is quick to play down his role but like all the best captains, this is a man who leads by example. Working as a physio in Dublin's Sports Physio Ireland, McKearney was back to work this morning and he's back down the road for training tonight.
There are many players all over the country making the same trek home through the wind and then rain and that's the kind of commitment that wins championships.
"When I get off the phone to you now in a while, I'll be back down the road for training tonight.
"Between traffic and the M50 and stuff, it'll be probably two and a half hours but that makes it all the sweeter. If you weren't going down during the week, lads would be asking where you were and that. But there's a lot of us making that sacrifice. And after a day like that, it doesn't feel like a sacrifice at all."Explore more on these topics: