Football

Tyrone seven backbone Ulster challenge in Inter-provincial Chamopionship

Mattie Donnelly is one of seven Tyrone players who will line-out for Ulster in Parnell Park tomorrow
Mattie Donnelly is one of seven Tyrone players who will line-out for Ulster in Parnell Park tomorrow Mattie Donnelly is one of seven Tyrone players who will line-out for Ulster in Parnell Park tomorrow

Inter-provincial championship semi-final: Ulster v Munster (tomorrow, Parnell Park, 2pm)

ULSTER will be backboned by seven players from provincial champions Tyrone for tomorrow’s Inter-pro semi-final clash with Munster.

Allstar duo Mattie Donnelly and Peter Harte are two of the stand-out names in Pete McGrath’s squad which includes representatives from seven counties but none from Donegal or Monaghan who shared five of the last six Anglo-Celt Cups.

Fermanagh’s Eoin Donnelly leads a side that will take on a Munster select managed by former Cork star Ger O’Sullivan and skippered by Kerry Sam Maguire-winner Aidan O’Mahony.

Five-time All-Ireland winner O’Mahony and Tommy Walsh are the two representatives from the Kingdom in a squad that includes players from every Munster county. O’Sullivan, who has former Tipperary Allstar Declan Browne and Kerry’s Dave Geaney in his management squad, is confident that the lesser lights in his squad will prove their worth at Parnell Park.

“We’d like to have a few more from Kerry but unfortunately they’re going to New York,” he explained.

“Aidan had decided not to go. He got a knock last week playing for Rathmore against Dr Croke’s but hopefully he’ll be fit to captain the team. We’re delighted to have Tommy Walsh too, there’s good reports about him playing good football in Kerry.

“Outside of those two we have six on the panel from Clare - people will have heard of Gary Brennan and David Tubridy but I’m very excited about some of the lesser names who are very promising players.

“Kevin Harnett, at full-back, did very well in the League and Championship and also Eoin Cleary at corner-forward. The fact that Clare have come from Division Four to Division Two is a huge achievement and you don’t achieve that with average players.”

He added: “I’ve been involved with Munster for about 10 years. I was the manager in 2008, the last time we won it. We had only two Kerry players on the team that year – Padraig Reidy and Tomas O Se – so it gives an opportunity to the lesser-known players.

“The Tipperary boys have been fantastic this year. Evan Comerford will be in goal for us and he was close to being an Allstar goalkeeper this year – but that’s the problem with Allstars; the lesser-known names don’t get the nod.

“We have Tomás O’Gorman from Waterford who was on the panel in 2008. Paul Whyte is also from Waterford and we have a few guys in from Cork. It’s not easy and I know it was the same in Ulster between injuries and holidays and weddings you’ll be missing a certain amount of players.

“I know the bookies are giving us no chance at all but we’re not just there to make up the numbers. I’m confident that we’ll put in a good performance.”

Tipp forward Michael Quinlivan is carrying an injury and may not feature, but O’Sullivan was encouraged by the attitude of his players after 18 of the 24-man squad attended a training session in Mallow on Monday night.

“From Clare to Mallow is a round trip of 3-4 hours so it was fantastic to see the six Clare lads there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Fermanagh manager McGrath leads Ulster for the first time as the northern province looks to win the competition for the first time since 2013 and extend their record number of titles to 32.

“I don’t know how it falls, but we’ve played Ulster on numerous occasions down through the years since I’ve been involved,” said O’Sullivan.

Aidan O'Mahony will skipper Munster in the Inter-Provincial Championship
Aidan O'Mahony will skipper Munster in the Inter-Provincial Championship Aidan O'Mahony will skipper Munster in the Inter-Provincial Championship

“Ulster have a huge supply of Division One and Two players who are used to playing at that level all the time. We don’t have that except for Cork and Kerry. Clare are up in Division Two this year but it’s their first year there.

“Ulster seem to embrace this competition better than other provinces and it’s tremendous the way the Ulster boys get behind it year-in, year-out.”

He added: “Unfortunately the game had to be postponed because of the death of Danny Murphy. His funeral will be a sad day that puts the game into perspective and we’ll feel for Danny’s family and friends. I met him in the past and he is a huge loss to his family, his county, his supporters and friends and the Ulster community at large.”

Ulster squad: Kevin Niblock, Niall McKeever (Antrim); Tony Kernan, Charlie Vernon (Armagh); Killian Clarke, Conor Moynagh (Cavan); Enda Lynn (Derry); Darren O’Hagan, Ryan Johnston, Gerard McGovern (Down); Aiden Breen, Michael Jones, Tomas Corrigan, Chris Snow, Eoin Donnelly, Declan McCusker (Fermanagh); Mattie Donnelly, Tiernan McCann, Niall Morgan, Connor McAliskey, Niall Sludden, Peter Harte, Mark Bradley (Tyrone)

Munster squad: Gary Brennan, Eoin Cleary, Kevin Hartnett, Jamie Malone, Keelan Sexton, David Tubridy (Clare); Tom Clancy, Ruairi Deane, Conor Dorman, Colm O’Driscoll, Kevin O’Driscoll (Cork); Aidan O’Mahony, Tommy Walsh (Kerry); Michael Quinlivan, Conor Sweeney (Tipperary); Patrick Hurney, Paul Corbett, Darragh Treacy (Limerick); Alan Campbell, Evan Comerford, Brian Fox, Tomás O’Gorman, Paul Whyte (Waterford)