Tipp's Evans slams poaching of stars

GAELIC GAMES NEWS:TIPPERARY FOOTBALL manager John Evans has slammed the "poaching" of some of his top stars by American clubs.

Evans had to plan without goalkeeper Matthew O’Donnell and forward pair Peter Acheson and Conor Sweeney for last Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC qualifier defeat against Laois in Portlaoise.

The trio are spending the summer in the United States, with Sweeney and Acheson playing for the Seán Treacys club in San Francisco, while O’Donnell is based in Boston.

Sweeney scored a point against Kerry in last month’s Munster SFC quarter-final before Acheson replaced him late in the game, while O’Donnell impressed between the sticks.

Evans has now revealed his young guns were earmarked months ago for a trans-Atlantic switch after the Munster SFC draw pitted Tipperary against Kerry in the 2011 championship.

A similar situation unfolded in the summer of 2010 when Evans lost star defender Ciarán McDonald, Chris Aylward and Alan Moloney to summer stints in the USA following defeat to Kerry.

But Kerry native Evans has vowed a similar situation will not be allowed to unfold if, as expected, he is in charge again next year.

He fumed: “I’m instilling a mindset into the players where ye can go and compete (against) and beat Kerry and these clubs are saying, ‘hey, forget it lads, we have a great job over here for you and a great club to play for. Ye are roaring certainties to be beaten.’ That’s what I’m angry about, that’s what I’m upset about.

“I would wish young fellas to have the best opportunity – but when the season is over, when the final whistle blows and you’re knocked out.

“We’ll go back into training now and there will be a lot of fellas planning for next year.

“Plan (that) you play football for your county for the whole season, not for half the season.”