ORLA BANNON
New Tyrone goalkeeper Niall Morgan has described Stephen Cluxton as "the king" and hopes Mickey Harte gives him a chance to play against his hero at Croke Park tomorrow night.

Morgan has been a revelation in goals for his county this year and has added a new dimension to their attack with his long-range free-taking and 45s.

“Cluxton is the king, really,” says Morgan. “The rest of us goalkeepers who are doing it (free-kicks) still have a long way to go before we can compare ourselves to him.

“I think I’ve only ever seen him miss one and it hit the post so it didn’t miss by much.

“I can only imagine what it would be like to play against him in Croke Park.

“I would need to do a lot more practice to be anywhere as good as him but it would be great to see how good he is in real life. To have the experience of playing against him would be unbelievable.”

Morgan does not play in goals for his club, Edendork, but did play between the sticks at minor and under-21. It was as goalkeeper for Irish League club Dungannon Swifts he really caught the eye.

Morgan was man of the match against Donegal two weeks ago, scoring 0-3 and saving a Michael Murphy penalty. Sacrificing his soccer career has given him added motivation to make it as Tyrone’s number one and nail down a starting place ahead of All-Ireland winning veterans Pascal McConnell and John Devine.

“I have given up a bit more than other people,” he admitted. “I know everyone is making the same commitment but I suppose with giving up the soccer, it has given me that extra bit of drive to show Mickey what I can do.”