Collins hoping Ilen will call the tune

REMEMBER that superb English series about a family veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire, All Creatures Great And Small? Since returning to his home place in West Cork, that has been the life of Fachtna Collins for the past five years.

Back to his roots after a journey that took him from Dublin, where he qualified as a vet, to Kanturk, where he cut his teeth, Fachtna has now established his own practice, amongst the fields and farmers her grew up with.

Through all those years that he was away, however, his heart never really left. A magnificent footballer, winner of a minor All-Ireland with Cork in 1991 and a Hogan Cup, with nearby Skibbereen, Collins could have had his pick of any football team in the county with which to try for major honours.