TONY Boyle, Donegal’s 28-year-old scoring ace, hit the readers’ jackpot last night when chosen as Player of the Year at the Irish News Ulster Fans’ Allstar Awards.
A superb season of consistent quality performances in the Championship and National Football League earned the Dungloe man the individual honours.
Boyle held off the challenge of four of the province’s best to add the Player of the Year accolade to his Allstar selection at full-forward on the fans’ team.
He was presented with his double win at a gala dinner in Cookstown’s Glenavon Hotel attended by over 150 guests. Boyle’s winning nomination reflected the widely held view that the powerful target-man remains one of the best in the business on the edge of the square.
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UNLIKE the drawn game, Rossa were unable to make up lost ground and there was no dramatic last minute goal to save their hides in this Antrim senior football championship quarter-final replay at Casement Park last night.
Lámh Dhearg were intent on making amends for Sunday evening’s disappointment and two early Frank Wilson points, and another from Steven McFadden in the opening 10 minutes, set the tone for this encounter.
Indeed it could have been even more had Rossa goalkeeper Dominic McEnhill not made a spectacular 10th minute save from Kevin Elliott.
Inspired by his keeper’s brilliance Antrim minor star Peter Murphy, making his first appearance in a Rossa jersey at senior level, pointed almost immediately and was to add another just before the break to keep his side in with some hope, despite trailing 1-8 to 0-4.
Rossa had too much ground to make up in the second half and never got any closer than six points. They did hit four in the runin, Kieran Grego grabbing the last one in injury time.
The outcome however always looked inevitable and Rossa, compared with their attitude of four days earlier, perhaps had their minds focused more on this weekend’s hurling semi-final with Ballycastle.
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CLARE will delay naming their team until just half an hour before the start of the re-fixed All-Ireland hurling semi-final second replay against Offaly tomorrow (3.30).
The Bannermen have accepted that Colin Lynch’s suspension will not be lifted by then, but the problem is that the queue awaiting treatment has been almost as long as that demanding tickets.
Ger Loughnane has injury doubts over several key players, although only midfielder Ollie Baker is under real threat of missing the game at Semple Stadium and he will start if at all possible.
Team spokesman Des Crowe said that the GAA would be told to print the same team as in last Saturday’s match programme - although of course the side that lined out was different.
Crowe added that there would be no repeat of the shirt number ‘retirements’ which followed the absences of Brian Lohan and Lynch through suspension in previous games.
Clare officials may write to the Munster Council today with regard to Lynch’s suspension, heeding the advice given by the GAA’s management committee after they had rejected Wednesday night’s appeal in Dublin.
