Tobin back at the helm as Connacht defend Inter-pro title
THE GAA Inter-provincial series returns this weekend following a one year hiatus, and Connacht football manager John Tobin will be hoping to make it two wins in-a-row in the competition when his side make the trip to Parnell Park to play Leinster on Saturday (Throw in 6 pm).
Despite an overall poor record in the competition, Tobin was able to defy the history book and seal a first Inter-provincial football title for Connacht since 1969 with victories over Munster and Ulster in Tuam Stadium back in February 2014, the Westerners' tenth title since its inception in 1927.
Seven Galway men were involved in that historic victory, and according to Tobin his native county’s players will once again be crucial to success, despite leaving out those involved with Corofin.
“We purposely didn’t go near the Corofin lads; we felt it was better to leave them alone. But there is a big Galway influence in the squad this year. From Galway we’d have the likes of young (David) Wynne, Declan Kyne, Johnny Heaney, Danny Cummins, Damien Comer and Gary O’Donnell.”
Despite Mayo reaching the All Ireland Final, Tobin will be without the majority of Stephen Rochford’s star attractions, due largely to a clash with the wedding of fellow county star Alan Dillon.
“We have a number of Mayo lads, but they have a big social occasion which is coinciding with the weekend as Alan Dillon is getting married. That’s robbing us of a few players, but we have David Clarke, Jason Doherty, Diarmuid O’Connor, and Conor O’Shea. We had Donal Vaughan until his club (Ballinrobe) was fixed for a relegation battle on Saturday, so he’s unavailable too.”
The team will include players from all counties in Connacht, with Niall Daly, Enda Smith, Diarmuid Murtagh and Sean Mullooly representing Roscommon, Kevin McDonald and Niall Murphy selected from Sligo, while Emlyn Mulligan and Donal Wynne from Leitrim are also included in Tobin’s panel.
While the competition was only officially launched last week, Tobin has had the opportunity to meet with his squad and doesn’t feel the short time frame was a factor in training for the fixture.
“The date was always fixed for the ninth and tenth of December, so we knew about it for a while. You’ll always get one session in. Two at the most. It’s difficult to get people together for training as they are all back or starting to get back training with their counties or clubs.”
While the public may have fallen out of love with the competition, the former Galway county star was keen to stress the love the players have for the series.
Full preview in this week's Connacht Tribune.