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Captain CourageousWHEN Kevin Mussen was representing Ulster in a Railway Cup match against Munster in the mid-50's a famous Kerry forward whom he was marking remarked: "It must be awful to play for a county which never has any chance of getting to Croke Park." A few years later the modest Hilltown teacher mounted the rostrum at GAA headquarters to receive the Sam Maguire Cup, the first-ever captain of a team from the Six Counties to achieve that honour. Even today the former Clonduff half-back can recall the thrill of leading the men in red and black behind the Artane Boys Band for that historic All-Ireland Final against the far-famed Kingdom of Kerry. After breakfast at the now-defunct Imperial Hotel in Newry that fateful Sunday morning, with a huge crowd there to see them off, the squad journeyed South to a quiet hotel on the outskirts of Dublin. "It was all so relaxed. We even had time to throw the ball around. There was no sign of nerves. We knew that we were well prepared, mentally and physically, for the job ahead. It was as if destiny had decreed that it should be our day. "But it was a different story in the dressing-room. That half-hour before the match was the most tense that I ever had to endure. Every time the door opened a huge roar of noise rolled in. Some of us took a stroll down the tunnel to have a peek. It looked as if the whole of County Down was in the stands or on the terraces. Everywhere was a sea of red and black." Kevln referred to the deafening din as the squad ran out on to the pitch. "We were a mixture of terror, confidence and apprehension. But above all was the feeling of pride as we marched in the parade which still stands out in my mind."
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