Final journey an eye-opener for quiet hero Friel

WHAT follows is the net result of an extraordinary interview, one given by a player who answers every question put to him with his eyes closed.

Michael Friel, all 6ft 3in of him, is a shy man. Surrounded by Armagh players last month, he was in his element but here in Derry’s Owenbeg training centre with over half a dozen dictaphones thrust in his direction he cowers.

The only time he opens his eyes is to throw them to heaven when he gives his first reply, an utterance he feels anything but adequate. In an attempt to assure him, one journalist tells him not to beat himself up about what he’s saying. “The questions aren’t great either, Michael.”