Trevor Hillard on Inniskeen’s balancing act

By Shaun Casey

TREVOR Hillard and Niall Arthur have combined player/manager roles this season and they’re enjoying the journey with Inniskeen. Their side face Monaghan SHC kingpins Castleblayney this weekend in the semi-final.

With Hillard at one end of the field between the sticks, and Arthur calling the shots at the attacking end, they have a nice balance between their roles. Brian Murphy and PJ Boyle are also on hand along the line to help out.

Hillard was man of the match when Inniskeen upset the odds in 2023, beating Blayney in the county final. Outside of that, Blayney have won all the other county titles since 2017.

“I remember a few years ago I was playing for Monaghan and managing Monaghan at the same time, so I’ve done it over the years,” Hillard said of his double job.

“Niall’s in there giving me a hand and it’s grand. We know the bunch we’re working with, and I can control where I am at the back and Niall can control things up front so it’s working out alright.

“We have Brian Murphy then running the line for us at the minute and PJ Boyle so everything’s good. If we call out a direction, they’ll get it to the players if we can’t get it to them.”

They eventually saw off Carrickmacross the last day out to reach the final four, winning with two points to spare in the end.

“Carrick came back at us twice and there were a few things that we probably have to tidy up on this weekend,” Hillard continued. “Carrick ran us to the very end and there was nothing between the two teams really.

They take on Castleblayney on Sunday afternoon, a double header at Clontibret with the other semi-final between Monaghan Harps and last year’s beaten finalists Truagh. It’s a massive challenge for the team.

“Obviously we know we have a big task coming this weekend, Blayney have been the champions for the last two years. We took it off them in 2023 but we’re probably in a bit of a rebuild more so than what Blayney are at the minute.”