Inside Track: Leslie Toal’s dual All-Ireland win unlikely to be repeated

A request, wanting to know the line-up of two Louth teams he played on, prompted me to take a look at Leslie Toal’s career. It was honour-laden, the club segment of it having him playing football with adult Clan na Gael teams for exactly 30 years. And during this time he was more than handy in hurling, and also acted as a County Board vice-chairman.

His time with the Louth seniors ran in parallel for almost two decades, and during it he played with Leinster in the Railway Cup. Before he hung up his boots and put his camán away, he had a successful time in club team management, and was also a selector with the Louth senior team.

Having shown promise at under-age, the Dundalk man was unlucky not to win a minor championship medal. Clans were out against O’Rahilly’s in the 1959 final at Ardee, and finished up losing by a point, 2-8 to 3-4. It maybe wouldn’t have been like that had the Caastletown side not been so exuberant in celebrating one of their goals.

Brian McConville, who would later go on to carve out a brilliant career in soccer, figuring on a title-winning Dundalk team along with his brother, Tommy, hit the back of the net and was immediately surrounded by back-slapping team-mates.

While all of this was going on, O’Rahilly’s took a quick kick-out, and then worked the ball upfield. Clans had no time to recover their composure – and the move didn’t end until the ball was in the back of the other net.

Toal showed enough that year to be included on the senior side, but because of his involvement with the minors, didn’t get the call-up. Which was unlucky, because that same year Clans won the championship for the first time since 1924, beating St Mary’s in a replayed final. His brother, Brian, played at right full-back.

When Clans next played in the final, five years later, two matches were again required to resolve the issue, and this time there was no happy ending. Newtown Blues, now in full flight after making a return to the rostrum in 1960, got the verdict.

By then, however, Toal had an All-Ireland medal to his credit. Louth juniors had an impressive run though the 1961 Leinster Championship, beating Dublin in the final. As per rule at the time, teams could be strengthened for the All-Ireland series by calling up senior club players to the panel.

Toal and his Clan na Gael colleague, Paddy Dixon, were among those added, and both would play a part in the defeat of Yorkshire in the final in Leeds, Dixon lining out at centre-half and his clubmate coming in as a reserve.

Jack Lynch, Teddy McCarthy, Ray Cummins and others did it with Cork – and that’s win All-Ireland medals in both football and hurling. Leslie Toal did it in this county, a feat that’s unlikely to be repeated.

While continuing to pursue a career in football, the Dundalk man lent more than valuable assistance to Clan na Gael hurling team, and such was his talent in the ancient game, lining out with the county was a guarantee. He collected his second All-Ireland when Louth beat Mayo in the 1967 junior final.

Clan na Gael footballers’ follow-up to their 1959 championship win came in 1985, with 16-year-old Stephen Staunton – another soccer star in the making at the time – scoring the vital goal in the win over Roche Emmets.

Toal had quit as a club senior just twelve months earlier. So, this was it: he began playing for the club’s seniors the year after they had won the championship, and quit the year before they next won it.

But it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it was very good. He was the man in charge in ’85, turning his team’s fortunes around after a disastrous start to the season. Relegation had loomed, but was avoided in the most brilliant of fashions. Staunton’s arrival was a boost to all.

That same year, Toal guided Dundalk CBS to a first-ever Leinster senior colleges title win, and he was on the line again when Dundalk Colleges won the same competition in the mid 1990s.

His county senior team career began in 1962 and ended with a recall for a championship match with Kildare, 16 years later. It yielded nothing in terms of trophies, but he had caught the Leinster selectors’ attention, winning a place in defence at the time when the Railway Cup worth winning.

No-one can accuse Leslie Toal of lacking enthusiasm, or not wanting to dig his club out of a hole. When the call came for someone to play in goals in the 1990 Louth junior two championship, he answered, and was rewarded when Clans won the all-Dundalk final with Young Irelands.

The long-missed Evening Press acknowledged his feat: “For Whom The Bell Toals” ran the headline over Gerry McCarthy’s piece.

And those teams, Leslie has requested? The first is the one that lined out in the 1965 defeat of Kerry in a 1966 Natrional League tie in Tralee:

Paddy Gallgher (Roche Emmets); Jack Maguire (St Fechin’s), L Toal (Clan na Gael), Mick Sherlock (Mattock Rangers); John Carolan (O’Rahilly’s), Jim Thornton (Cooley Kickhams), Frank Clarke (Newtown Blues); Mick McKeown (O’Rahilly’s), Frank Lynch (Geraldines); John Woods (Cooley Kickhams), Benny Gaughran (Clan na Gael), Liam Leech (Newtown Blues); Mickey Leech (O’Rahilly’s), Jimmy Mulroy (Newtown Blues), Paul Judge (Newtown Blues).

Turlough McDonald (St Mary’s) came in as a sub.

The other team also scored a significant win, beating All-Ireland finalists, Armagh, in a 1977/’78 league tie at St Brigid’s Park. It read:

Gerry Farrell (Cooley KickhaMS); Peter McCarthy (Cooley Kickhams), L Toal (Clan na Gael), Brendan Byrne (St Mochta’s); Barry Coyle (O’rahilly’s), Terry Lennon (Kilkerley Emmets), Danny Culligan (St Joseph’s; JP O’Kane (kilkerley Emmets), Aidan Wiseman (Clan na Gael); Anthony Hoey (St Bride’s), Matt McDermott (St Fechin’s), Benny Gaughran (Civil Service, Dunlin), Mick McKeown (O’Rahilly’s), Damien Reid (Mattock Rangers).

Dessie Murray (O’Rahilly’s) and Eugene Marmion (Roche Emmets) were introduced at half-time.