IS there a better full forward around at the moment than Tony Boyle? Jason Sherlock is in a hibernation of sorts, and Seamus Downey would certainly have his share of supporters. But Boyle's all round attributes would make the Donegal man an immediate target for any manager if such a thing as a transfer system were to operate in Gaelic football.
It doesn't, fortunately for Donegal. The GAA still honours the Corinthian code - at least officially - and Boyle will have "Donegal China" tattooed to his chest for some time yet as he continues to revel in the role of chief architect in their assault on the National Football League crown.
Free taker. Targetman. Playmaker. Whatever the role he is asked to adopt, Boyle has been more than able for the task. Donegal manager P.J. McGowan isn't one to single out any special player, preferring to focus on the team as a whole. In Boyle's case, he conceded: "Tony is an extremely accomplished player but, lately, he has been getting a lot of attention, basically because he has assumed the free taking duties as well."
Like it or not, though, the free taker is a necessary evil in modern Gaelic football. Would Dublin have won the Sam Maguire without Charlie Redmond? And Boyle's dexterity with frees from the ground or the hand allied to his general contribution have entitled him to regain hero status among the Donegal supporters, a notoriously hard lot to please.
Election fever as much as football fever is evident in the Hills of Donegal at the present time. In his rounds as a salesman for food and beverages company Union Foods yesterday, the likely successor to the late Neil Blayney was as likely to crop up in conversation as Donegal's quest for a first National League title.
Boyle is not one who frowns upon Donegal's involvement in the latter stages of the league. "I'm not part of the school which believes it will affect our championship hopes. If we had lost to Wicklow last Sunday, that would have left us eight weeks without a match before we met Down in the championship. I much prefer to be still playing competitive matches, there is no substitution for them," he said.
When Man us Boyle got injured during the current league campaign, McGowan approached Tony to assume the free taking duties - "I take the frees for my club, but we're training three nights a week as it is so I don't put in any extra practice other than maybe an hour or so on the day before a match," and the move has been something of a master stroke.
And although Declan Bonner, now back in the side, takes any kicks more suited to a left footed player, Boyle's role is reflected in the statistic that he has contributed 2-25 (between play and dead ball duties) of Donegal's 7-80 in the eight matches of the 1995/1996 league campaign to date. Importantly, though, 1-15 of his contribution has been delivered in the last three matches!
A sign, perhaps, that he is increasingly revelling in the role? "Maybe," he admitted. "But I am really just enjoying my football, particularly the fact that I have been injury free."
Injury has accompanied Boyle too often in the 1990s; he has suffered with a knee complaint and, more agonisingly, a shoulder injury which devastated his 1993 season. "I had a bad run of injuries for two or three years but, thankfully, everything has cleared up now," he said.
Donegal's next outing in the National League comes on April 21st when the task of keeping tabs on Boyle is likely to fall to Cork's full back Mark O'Connor. "I'm looking forward to that game. We haven't met Cork in around five years or so, and it will be interesting to see how both teams compare to each other," insisted Boyle.
That Donegal Cork match will be staged as an attractive double header with the other semi final between Derry and Mayo, with the final scheduled for May 5th.
