Caffrey mixes old and new

GAA:After the successful experiment that was Dublin's O'Byrne Cup campaign it's no surprise manager Paul Caffrey has stuck with several newcomers for Saturday's sell-out National Football League opener against Tyrone - and the baptism of Croke Park's floodlights.

These include the St Vincent's duo of defender Ger Brennan and teenage forward Diarmuid Connolly, both of whom made a big noise in Dublin's successful run of the past three weeks. Brennan starts at left wing back alongside team captain Colin Moran and Paul Casey, while Connolly - who was Dublin's leading scoring forward after their four O'Byrne Cup matches with 1-20 - is named at left wing forward.

Dual player David O'Callaghan, who hit 2-5 in recent weeks, is also rewarded with a starting place, in the full-forward line alongside Kevin Bonner and Conal Keaney.

St Jude's defender Niall O'Shea is given the responsibility at full back, which is seen as one of the key positions in Dublin's upcoming league and championship campaign, although he does have good cover either side of him in David Henry and Paul Griffin.

The midfield pairing of Darren Magee and Declan O'Mahony also remains intact following the strong showing in the O'Byrne Cup, especially against Laois in last Sunday's final, which means for now Ciarán Whelan and Shane Ryan must be content with places on the bench.

Whelan has been carrying a minor rib injury and only returned to training in recent weeks, although he was still talking up Saturday night's clash yesterday at a special press conference in Belfast, along with Tyrone defender Ryan McMenamin.

"This is a historic game in so many ways, being the first to be played under floodlights at Croke Park with a record full house and I suppose it's the perfect place for any team to start to the new season," he said, making no secret Dublin harbour ambitions of winning their first league title in 14 years and first All-Ireland in 12 years.

"It is a big year and everyone starts from a level playing field and any one of a half a dozen teams can come good. Mayo could be back. Cork and Kerry are sure to be there again. It will be a case of taking one game at a time. We are taking the league very seriously and we want to qualify for the final because we have not done so since 1999 when we lost to Cork.

"There are a lot of quality teams in our division and yet a couple of those teams could end up playing in Division Three next year and that is a bit scary. So every league game is going to be important and I suppose none more so than Saturday night against Tyrone."

Dublin practised under the new lights last night - as did Tyrone - and while a winning start would be nice, Whelan wasn't just over-emphasising the pressure: "There are always expectations but we must just wait and see how we get on and Saturday night is as difficult a starting point as we could possibly have because everyone knows what a great team Tyrone are.

"We have seven games in nine weeks and it's an intensive period of competitive football and we possibly are not going to reach the heights we would like in all seven games and so it will be a case of digging out victories here and there. It could be about winning and playing poorly."

Whelan also praised the newcomers: "These new lads have had three or four games under their belt and have shown good form. Saturday night is going to present another excellent opportunity before a massive crowd and that is going to be massive experience for them in preparation for the championship."

DUBLIN (SF v Tyrone): S Cluxton; D Henry, N O'Shea, P Griffin; P Casey, C Moran, G Brennan; D O'Mahony, D Magee; D Murray, A Brogan, D Connolly; D O'Callaghan, K Bonner, C Keaney.