‘If you could clone him you would’

In the three weeks running up to Antrim’s Ulster opener against Monaghan last year, James Loughrey’s behaviour at training each evening bemused his team-mates.

As they warmed up with kicks towards the post, he was at the other end of the pitch rehearsing a move: running from the sideline and taking a shot at goal.

“We would have looked up and said ‘what’s he at?’,” smiles Kevin O’Boyle. “But in the game he made that exact same run and finish to the top corner. It was one of the best goals of the championship.