Gary is crowned country"s best "keeper

It was a case of third time lucky for Westmeath goalkeeper Gary Connaughton last week as he was awarded a prestigious Vodafone GAA All-Star after being nominated for the third time.'It"s a great honour. It"s one of the top honours you can get in Irish sport and I"m really thrilled to get one.Certainly it was unexpected for me this year, but still I"m delighted to be here receiving one tonight; it"s great to finish the year off with an All-Star,' the Tubberclair clubman told the "Westmeath Independent" at last Friday"s function at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin.'In 2004, I was up against an All-Ireland winner (Diarmuid Murphy of Kerry) and in 2006 I was up against Stephen Cluxton (Dublin). This year, I was up against a lad who let in a few goals in a Leinster final (Wexford"s Anthony Masterson) and another lad (Cavan"s James Reilly) who, like myself, didn"t get that far in the championship. I didn"t really know what to expect,' said Connaughton.However, he feels the fact that it was third time to be nominated might have swayed the verdict in his favour.'The way the year went for Westmeath, we were unlucky against Dublin (in the Leinster semi-final) and we were unlucky against Tyrone. Dublin went on and won a Leinster championship and Tyrone went on and won the All-Ireland final. It is good recognition (for Westmeath). We won the Division 2 league - a league that we were expected to be relegated in. Overall, the defensive record of the team was one of the top defensive records of all the teams in the championship this year,' he said.During Páidí Ó Sé"s first year as Westmeath manager, Connaughton started the National League campaign as the team"s sub goalie behind Aidan Lennon. Following a draw away to Cork, Connaughton was given his chance to impress in the next league game at home to Longford. Even though Westmeath lost that match against their midland neighbours, the Tubberclair man did enough to hold his place and he has never lost it since.Connaughton played League of Ireland soccer for a few years with Athlone Town, but, since committing his sporting energies to Gaelic football, he has established himself as one of the top goalkeepers in the country.'This is my fifth year playing in goals for Westmeath and ... It"s been unreal for me to be nominated for three All-Stars. When I gave up the soccer, I didn"t know what to expect when I went into playing Gaelic with Westmeath. You want to play on the team and then, when you get on the team, you want to do well and you want to have success.'When you"re starting off the year with your county team, you want to win a Leinster, you want to win an All-Ireland. You certainly don"t think about winning All-Stars. They"re individual awards at the end of the year and they"re great to get, but, at the end of the day, Gaelic football is a team sport and what you achieve with the team is what you remember more.'Asked what Westmeath need to do in order to bridge the gap to the country"s elite top teams, Connaughton said: 'We have a top manager in Tomás. We"re very lucky to have Tomás Ó Flatharta, people don"t realise how good a manager he is. We are always looking to improve the team ... and 2009 is going to be no different. There are some good young players in the county at the moment. If we can keep those lads over the next few years, there"s no reason why Westmeath can"t go on and achieve more things. Looking at 2009, we"re looking to improve the team as much as we can, and never mind individual awards.'But Connaughton agrees that two Westmeath players receiving All-Stars - and another player getting a nomination (Michael Ennis) - will give young players in the county a great deal of encouragement.'The likes of John Keane and Dessie Dolan are All-Stars, they"re role models both on and off the field,' said Connaughton, who believes players like those two 'should inspire youngsters all around the county' to give the necessary commitment required to make an impact at inter-county level.Connaughton"s selection for an All-Star is a huge source of pride to his club Tubberclair. He said he was honoured to be 'the first Tubberclair man to win an All-Star and to be the first Westmeath goalkeeper to win an All-Star'.'I"m a Tubberclair man all my life. I"ve played adult championship football with the club since I was about 15. I"m 29 now and I haven"t missed a year of championship football with the club yet. We were unlucky this year in the intermediate championship against Maryland; on the day, probably the best team won. I"m totally honoured to represent Tubberclair here at All-Stars night.In the modern game, goalkeeping entails far more than simply stopping the ball going into the net and Connaughton has worked hard at developing his game.'I think Stephen Cluxton probably set the standard for Gaelic football goalkeepers over the years,' said Connaughton, pointing to Cluxton"s 'placed kick-outs and ability to keep a calm head under pressure'. Connaughton insists there are 'certain aspects' of his game that he can improve on.'I"m not the complete goalie ... I"m always looking to improve as a goalkeeper. A goalkeeper always improves every year once he keeps at it. I hope the experience I have gained over the last ten or 12 years playing Gaelic football, even League of Ireland soccer, will stand to me and improve me,' he added.