LONG-serving Antrim defender Kevin O’Boyle has pulled down the curtain on his inter-county career, while the versatile Colum Duffin will not be available to Enda McGinley for the incoming year.
Cargin man O’Boyle has long been one of the steadiest defenders in Ulster football but having been an ever-present from his championship debut against Derry in 2007, his later years were injury-disrupted.
He missed just two championship campaigns, opting out in 2015 to get married and build a house and in 2019 when a crippling groin condition, osteitis pubis, took hold and sidelined him.
Playing most of his football at corner-back, he will arguably be best remembered for his match-winning interventions in two of Antrim’s most famous wins of recent times.
He kicked the booming winner in Ballybofey against Donegal to set his county on their way to the Ulster final in 2009, and then cleared off the line in the dramatic conclusion to a thrilling win over Fermanagh in 2014.
The 33-year-old, who will continue to play for the Erin’s Own club, accepted a recall to Lenny Harbinson’s squad ahead of the abridged 2020 championship and quickly re-established himself in the starting line-up for the loss to Cavan.
He confirmed to The Irish News last night that his inter-county days are over and said he was glad of the opportunity to go out on his own terms against the eventual Ulster champions.
Moneyglass forward Duffin had been brought back in by Harbinson ahead of the 2018 season after a spell away and ended up alternating between attack and midfield over the next three seasons.
He won’t be available to former Tyrone star McGinley this year, however, owing to a change of work circumstances in Dublin.
They are the only two significant opt-outs at this stage, with interest in joining the new Saffron setup understood to be high.
Paddy Cunningham has said that he is exploring staying on having originally committed for one final year before Covid took hold, while McGinley’s brothers-in-law Michael and Tomás McCann seem certain to go at it again.
Antrim are due to play in the northern section of Division Four alongside Leitrim, Sligo and Mickey Harte-managed Louth.
