Galway's selectors have made two changes in their team to meet Waterford in the quarter-final of the All-Ireland championship in Croke Park on Sunday. Back into the side come Liam Burke and Joe McGrath, both of whom missed the Connacht final against Roscommon. Michael Coleman is selected at midfield after passing a fitness test last night. Antrim, meanwhile, have recalled Malachy Molloy to their midfield following the Ulster final against Derry. Molloy had to be replaced on that occasion because of injury.
Offaly, however, have postponed their selection until tomorrow night because of a long injury list. The squad trained last night, but the selectors felt that they could not name the team until later in the week in the hope that their options might become clearer. Galway have not managed to shake off a number of problems as far as some of their first-choice players are concerned. There has been considerable relief in the county, however, that Coleman, Burke and McGrath have been declared fit, but concerns still surround Justin Campbell, Cathal Moore, Michael Donoghue and Conor O'Donovan, all of whom miss Sunday's quarter-final.
Campbell has a broken bone in his hand while Moore has a worrying neck problem which prevents him from swinging a hurley. Donoghue has a disc problem and O'Donovan has a leg injury. After moving to midfield late in the match against Roscommon Joe Rabbitte reverts to full forward. This means that Coleman and Burke team up at midfield. Burke replaces Martin Kenny, who filled in for the injured Burke for the Roscommon match. McGrath comes in at centre forward instead of Francis Forde.
Dara Coen, not surprisingly, is retained at right corner forward after a performance which saw him score 1-13 against Roscommon (10 points from frees) and he is expected to play a major role in Galway's bid to edge past Waterford and reach the semi-finals. Kevin Broderick, who has had a hamstring problem recently, is named in the starting line-up as expected.
By and large the Galway selectors are happy enough with the team they have selected. Veteran official Phelim Murphy, now chairman of the Connacht Council, said last night that Galway were determined to advance.
"We understand why Waterford are not happy about having to play three championship matches in successive weeks, but we have had our problems too. We have a fairly well-established team and we are confident that we can go through," he said. The return of Malachy Molloy to the Antrim midfield was expected. He damaged a wrist in the semi-final against London and was replaced by Joe O'Neill in the match against Derry, but he has fully recovered from that injury and now rejoins Paul McKillen in midfield.
There is, however, some concern about the fitness of Gary O'Kane who has been selected at centre half back. He came through a full-scale training match against the Antrim under-21 squad at Dunloy last night, but a final decision on his fitness will be delayed until later in the week. Hopes are said to be high that he will be fit for the Offaly challenge.
Offaly's woes were not helped last night when it became clear that they would not be able to pick Johnny Dooley or Darren Hannify, both of whom are injured. Dooley had a broken cheek bone and Hanniffy has not recovered from a leg injury.
Problems also threaten the availability of Daithi Regan, Kevin Martin, Joe Errity, John Troy and Paidi Mulhaire.
Brian Talty, the former Galway footballer, has expressed an interest in the vacant Carlow senior football team manager's job. Talty, manager of the St Silvester's senior club side in Malahide, Dublin, says he hasn't been approached as yet about the job, but says he is prepared to talk to Carlow's county board. Paddy Morrissey resigned as the county's manager earlier this month.
