Paul Boyle: “Gerard Walsh is Steve Prefontaine reincarnated”

WE put our Q&A to .Antrim and Loughgiel’s Paul Boyle…

Name: Paul Boyle.

Age: 23.

Teams played for:

Loughgiel Shamrocks, Antrim and Ulster University.

Earliest GAA memory?

Probably playing matches in the back garden with my sisters and my Ma standing in nets pulling off double saves.

Which team-mate has been the most inspirational and why?

Wee ‘Smitty’ (Tiernan Smyth). Nothing phases him and his positivity is infectious.

Who’s the best team-mate to train with and why?

Gerard Walsh – the man is Steve Prefontaine reincarnated or else Conal Cunning, his intelligence is through the roof.

Which team-mate is the worst to train with and why?

Big Odhran McFadden would try and take the hand off you alright.

Which team-mate do you want to mark in training and why?

Paddy Burke would tell you himself that pace is something he struggles with, I edge him for it and he doesn’t like it.

Which team-mate do you dread marking in training and why?

Enda Óg McGarry or Damon McMullan, it’s great to mark them but they have handed out some belts through the years.

Best score you’ve seen from a team-mate?

Believe it or not, Tiernan Coyle scored a point once. Now he tapped it over from the 21 but it’s impressive that he put it over nonetheless, so I’ll go with that one.

What win has your team celebrated the most?

Maybe still waiting on that big one yet, suppose you could say beating Westmeath to stay in Leinster last year.

Which team-mate is the best on journeys away?

James McNaughton, just ask him what three things he would bring to a desert island.

Which club is the worst for journeys away?

Would have to be one of the Down teams, not for the journey but just because Declan McCloskey has to get up earlier to feed the cows on gameday and we have to listen to him giving off stink.

What’s the funniest thing you’ve heard in training or in a match, and who said it?

Serious debates have been had about what animal you would least like to have to fight in the wild. Eoghan Campbell or Rory McCloskey are usually the ring leaders in those conversations.

What’s the worst excuse you’ve heard to get out of training?

Callum Campbell once missed a UU training because the new Fortnite update was out, that certainly has to be the worst.

Which team-mate is the loudest in the changing room?

Bicky McGarry.

Which team-mate would you want standing over a last-second penalty?

Sure, you couldn’t look past Liam Watson.

Which team-mate would you never want to see hitting a last-second penalty?

How long have you got? Probably Rian McMullan, just because if he scored you wouldn’t hear the end of it.

Which team-mate is the most sensible?

Seamus Dobbin with Loughgiel is always full of words of wisdom.

Who is the smartest of all your teammates?

Digger McKiernan with UU would blow you away with his level of intelligence.

Who’s the best team mate to celebrate with?

Cup of tea and a debrief with James McNaughton is hard whacked.