All Stars call three up for Dubai trip

Kildare's Glen Ryan, Fermanagh's Rory Gallagher and Galway's Gary Fahey have been called in as replacements for next month's All Star trip to Dubai.

Ryan takes over from Armagh's Kieran McGeeney at centre back; Gallagher comes in for Galway's Michael Donnellan at wing forward; and Fahey replaces Kerry captain Seamus Moynihan at full back. The trio have pulled out either through injury or business commitments.

The tour party sets out on January 23rd and the itinerary includes an exhibition game between this year's All Star team and the 1999 selection. Dublin forward Ian Robertson has also been named to replace Meath's Ollie Murphy on last year's side. Kerry's Paidi O Se and Galway's John O'Mahony are the opposing managers.

Meanwhile, another twist in the Kerry-Dublin National Football League game postponement saga emerged yesterday when the Games Administration Committee (GAC) confirmed February 4th as the re-fixed date. That, however, is the same day as Dublin's opening under-21 football championship match with Wexford at Parnell Park.

Originally set for November 26th Dublin agreed to defer the game as it clashed with the Kerry county final. It was then to be played last Saturday in Tralee but was called off after a pitch inspection on Friday afternoon.

The league resumes on February 11th and the GAC is eager to have the Dublin-Kerry game out of the way before that. But a number of Dublin under-21 players have featured in Tom Carr's league plans, including Darren Magee, Wayne McCarthy and Alan Brogan. Colin Moran and Declan Conlon are also expected to be back from injury to join the under-21 side.

It now remains to be seen whether Kerry will agree to a new date, perhaps before February 4th. But on top of that, Dublin have an O'Byrne Cup quarter-final with either Carlow or Wicklow on January 21st and the strong possibility of a semi-final the week later. The final is then set for February 4th.

There had been some doubt over just how bad conditions were in Tralee on Friday, but two independent assessors - Limerick football chairman Bill Ahearne and fellow county official John McCarthy - deemed the surface unplayable.