"THOUGHT IT was going to be that every year," Ted Joyce. A contented smile formed on the lips of the old man sitting in his arm-chair in the corner of a living room that has been home since 1923. He was listening to Eire Og's Vinny Harvey recite the names of the Carlow team that won the county's lone Leinster Senior football title in 1944. Harvey started with the forwards, worked his way back, each name evoking a nod of recognition from the old man, with mention of Jimma Rea and Luke Kelly eliciting the biggest response of all.

"And who was on the full-back line?" prompted the old man. "Johnny Lawler, Jim Archbold and yourself" says Harvey, "Pim Quinlan in the goal". Nodding his agreement, the old man sighs, looks into the distance. "Not many of us left now". Sadly, no, just one of the starting Carlow fifteen are still among us, Ted Joyce in whose sitting room we are enjoying a cup of tea.

Another member of that historic squad, substitute Michael ' Ding Dong' Hughes is alive in America and it is obvious from his comments on each player that Ted Joyce still holds his colleagues of '44 in deep affection. And it was clear too, from a very early stage, that Ted Joyce retains a mischievous sense of humour.

Having sampled a drink in the quaint old style bar son John showed Vinny Harvey, Tommy Murphy (taping the conversation for KCLR) and myself into the sitting room. "Are ye on tour" greets Ted. "We are, a bit like the circus" says Tommy to which Ted Joyce quickly replies "There'd hardly be more clowns in the circus!"

It was the opening shot in a wonderful afternoon's entertainment that drifted from discussing the old Carlow Hunt, point-to-points in Mount Loftus to Borris House, the vagaries of the bona fide traveller rule that applied to public houses years ago and even a suggestion that "but for I met herself and fell in love" Ted might have followed in the footsteps of a six Borris men of his vintage who joined the priesthood! 1944, of course, was our chief interest but, truth to tell, so modest is Ted Joyce about his own playing exploits that we were not much the wiser coming out.

The Borris publican, along with Army men Brian O'Rourke and Paddy Sullivan were the final pieces in the Carlow jigsaw, all three making their championship debut in ' 44 itself, joining seasoned colleagues who had suffered the heartbreak of losing Leinster finals in 1941 and 1942.

The new kids on the block met with immediate success: Carlow crowned Leinster champions after a mighty struggle with Dublin in Athy, then coming within the kick of a ball of beating the mighty Kingdom in an All-Ireland semifinal that drew a record attendance to Croke Park.

"I thought it was going to be like that every year" mused Ted Joyce who was just 20 years of age, the youngest man on a team that were real heroes to the Carlow followers who, during Emergency times, used every possible mode of transport to support their team.

Just three years earlier a teenage Ted had been one of those supporters, has fond memories of trips to Wexford and Croke Park, recalls "the wet day men of 41" who lost the Leinster final in Dr Cullen Park, delayed until November after the infamous foot and mouth left Carlow in Summer quarantine.

In 1942 Carlow again reached the Leinster final, beaten 0-8 to 0-6 by Dublin in Athy, while the Kildare venue also proved a graveyard for scallioneater hopes in 1943, Laois eking out a narrow 3-8 to 3-6 semi-final victory. Little could Ted Joyce have known that when next Carlow would visit Athy's Geraldine Park he would be togged out in red, yellow and green.

"Were you surprised, at such a young age, to get the call in 1944 or how did you hear about your selection" we asked and this brought the first mention of a character that Ted Joyce holds in high esteem.

"Oh Larry Furlong, he was a selector, he told me I was on" stated Ted before steering the conversation in a completely different direction by revealing that the same Larry Furlong was responsible for as cute a piece of boardroom sorcery as was ever pulled off in GAA circles.

"Larry got a motion passed that allowed a Senior club in a parish to draw on three players from a Junior club in the same parish and that's how Luke Kelly and myself won Junior and Senior championship medals in the one year, Junior with Borris here, Senior with Ballymurphy" stated Ted Joyce with a touch of glee.

The doubting Thomas in your scribe thought that maybe the passage of time was playing tricks, that the medals were won in separate years, maybe one year after the other. Mea culpa, Ted, a visit to the old newspaper archive backs up your story though its unclear if Luke Kelly played Senior.

The newspaper of 1947 would suggest that Larry Furlong was a crafty politician of speedy disposition! We read on the second last week of January 1947 that "The first Annual Meeting of the newly formed Borris Sarsfield's Football Club was held on Monday night last, at which the election of officers for the coming year and the decision to affiliate teams to participate in the 1947 championships were the chief matters on the agenda".

Chairman of the new club was Luke Kelly, the '44 mid-fielder who had been out of football for a couple of years; Ted Joyce was elected captain. Joyce had played his adult club football with Ballymurphy up till then, winning an IFC medal in 1943, losing the SFC finals of 1944 (after three games against Tinryland) and 1945 (O'Hanrahan's). Ballymurphy met Tinryland again in the 1946 final, a match that was abandoned and when asked could he recall why, Ted, with a grin, replied "it must have rained!"

The weather may have had a bit to do with it alright as with the sides level with ten minutes to go the suggestion in 'The Nationalist' is that a supporter of the team playing against the strong wind instigated a crowd invasion. Whether or which the match was unfinished and a re-fixture was in the offing when Borris decided to form a Junior club. Now, while Ted Joyce, could legally finish out the 1946 championship with his old club, Larry Furlong, the Ballymurphy guru, was thinking of the bigger picture and at Co. Convention held in Borris Town Hall on the last Sunday of January 1947 Motion 15 read:

That Senior teams of one parish be allowed four Junior players from within the parish, such Junior players not to lose their Senior status. (Ballymurphy GFC). The motion was approved 35 votes to 22. The fact that Mr Tom Ryan of Ballymurphy was Co. Chairman at the time was surely a help in steering the motion through, a motion that gave Luke Kelly and Ted Joyce the best of both worlds: freedom to play Junior with their native Borris and still pursue Senior honours with Ballymurphy.

And, what should happen, but that both Borris and Ballymurphy went all the way and so the '44 duo had the unique distinction of legally winning Senior and Junior medals in the one year!

Naturally, the pair were central to Borris' Junior success, the Sarsfields winning the Southern section with impressive wins over St Mullins, Cournellan and Rathanna, three neighbouring clubs, before inching out Palatine 3-3 to 2-5 in Dr Cullen Park in the 1947 JFC final, delayed until the Spring of 1948.

Joyce in the backs, Kelly at mid-field and Deegan in attack were cited as the champions best players. Meanwhile, Ballymurphy, having lost the 1946 re-fixture to Tinryland, finally made the Senior breakthrough, a first round win over Muinebheag (2-12 to 3-3), a semi-final triumph over bogey side Tinryland (2-5 to 0-6) and a county final success over Kilbride (1-4 to 0-1) giving credence to the phrase "as happy as Larry", Mr Furlong's boardroom ruse having paid rich dividends. Consider this paragraph from Ballymurphy's semi-final victory over Tinryland: "If one player more than any other on the Ballymurphy side can be thanked for their victory it is Ted Joyce. He gave an exhibition of perfect football, faultless fielding and lengthy kicking" But for Larry Furlong's parish rule allowing Ted Joyce don Ballymurphy's famed green jersey with a white sash the South County club might not have etched their name on the SFC Roll of Honour.

One suspects Ted Joyce, now 88, gets as much satisfaction out of recalling that Junior/Senior double as he does out of the 1944 Provincial success.

Throw in the Intermediate memento won with Ballymurphy in 1943 and Ted Joyce has the full adult set of Junior, Intermediate and Senior championship medals. There is not too many can stake that claim.

- Legends Leo McGeogh's of the game