Caffrey sticks with winning formula

GAELIC GAMES: It's a case of "same again, boys" as Dublin look to bridge an 11-year gap and make their first All-Ireland senior football final since 1995.

Manager Paul Caffrey was never likely to be tempted into many changes after the facile quarter-final win over Westmeath last Saturday week, and as expected has announced the same starting line-up for Sunday's semi-final against Mayo at Croke Park.

The Dublin forwards have been rotating during games all summer, a tactic epitomised against Westmeath when they switched around as soon as their marker looked like getting to grips, intensifying the pressure on their opponents in the process.

For now, they're all named in the same positions as the last day - as the team have been given jersey numbers for the summer, as opposed to just positions. That means Kevin Bonner is named at full forward, although Conal Keaney started there the last day, with Alan Brogan named at centre forward and Ray Cosgrove at left wing forward.

Jason Sherlock and Tomas Quinn are named at corner forward, although Sherlock is likely to feature at centre forward. Bryan Cullen will definitely be playing at centre back, while David Henry and Paul Griffin are named at right and left corner back respectively, having switched for the Westmeath game.

Mayo are due to finalise their starting line-up after training this evening, with Willie Joe Padden likely to miss out after injuring a hamstring in the opening half against Laois last Sunday. Aidan Kilcoyne, who took over from Padden on the day and who did well in the second half, kicking a point, is his obvious replacement.

Outside of the team selections, the main talking point ahead of Sunday's game has been the ticket allocations, with Dublin supporters particularly aggrieved at their lot of just under 26,000 - less than half the usual demand. No tickets have been made available to the public, with the only distribution outlet being through the clubs.

GAA press chief Danny Lynch, however, defended that situation yesterday, saying an All-Ireland semi-final was "not the property of one county" and Dublin should be content with the tickets they've got.

"Dublin are getting just under 26,000 tickets," said Lynch, "which is effectively half the available tickets, and equates to the totality of what the other five counties are getting. The premium and box level seats are mostly owned and operated by Dublin people, for obvious reasons, and that's about another 12,000 seats, which brings the Dublin allocation to just under 40,000.

"This happens every year at the penultimate stages of the championship. But the reality of the situation is an All-Ireland semi-final is a national event, and not the property of one county. And in this case there are six counties involved. So no matter how we tried to do this, we were always going to have an opposition, and they have to get a shake of tickets as well. We have to be fair to everybody."

As well as the Dublin-Mayo match, Sunday's programme includes the Tommy Murphy Cup final between Louth and Leitrim, with those counties getting about 11,000 tickets between them. The remaining allocation of around 7,000 has gone to the minor semi-finalists, Meath and Roscommon.

Meanwhile, a junior club challenge game in Kerry last Monday has reportedly led to a Garda investigation after a player involved, Stephen O'Sullivan, sustained a broken jaw in an off-the-ball incident. The game involved neighbours Skellig Rangers and Valentia - a challenge arranged to benefit both clubs ahead of the junior championship - and O'Sullivan, a South Kerry defender, was held over in Kerry General Hospital on Monday evening, then transferred to Cork University Hospital for further treatment.

Elsewhere, the rumour mill involving next season's managerial positions continues with Galway club Liam Mellowes expressing their interest in nominating Clare goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald to take over as the county's senior hurling manager.

After 17 years with Clare, Fitzgerald (35), is considering his future with the county, although he is widely expected to continue for another year.

DUBLIN (SF v Mayo): S Cluxton; D Henry, B Cahill, P Griffin; P Casey, B Cullen, C Goggins; S Ryan, C Whelan; C Keaney, A Brogan, R Cosgrove; J Sherlock, K Bonner, T Quinn.