Dublin and Offaly stick to winning formulas

GAELIC GAMES: It says a lot about their state of mind that both Dublin and Offaly have announced unchanged line-ups for the Leinster football final at Croke Park. It emphasises the confidence of the management and the form of the players after their respective semi-finals and that - if winning is a habit - offers their best chance for victory on Sunday.

Dublin midfielder Darren Magee is fit again after a recent hand injury, but Ciarán Whelan and Shane Ryan hold down their places as expected. Ray Cosgrove will start at left half forward - with Kevin Bonner on the edge of the square - after collecting 1-3 against Laois, a game that marked a dramatic comeback after three years on the sideline.

Similarly, Offaly manager Kevin Kilmurray sticks with the team that impressed against Wexford last Sunday week. Centre back Scott Brady was available for selection, as his two-week ban arising out of his dismissal against Wexford lapses on Saturday.

Experienced forward Colm Quinn is again kept in reserve, as is defender Cathal Daly, with the attacking duo of Thomas Deehan and Niall McNamee - who scored 2-11 between them the last day - again named at right and left corner forward respectively.

Going into the Laois game, Dublin made several changes from their narrow win over Longford, and they all worked a treat. Possibly the most decisive move saw Bryan Cullen revert from the half-forward line to centre back, where he ended up delivering an excellent performance.

Cullen, typically, plays down the significance of that move, although it's clear he will be one of the most closely marked men on Sunday: "It's well known that I played the majority of my underage football there," says Cullen, who is also acting as Dublin captain for the injured Colin Moran.

"Centre back probably does come more naturally to me, and I probably would be more comfortable there. I'd like to think that after my performance the last day I've hopefully cemented that position. It was the Tuesday after the Longford game when Pillar (Paul Caffrey) just pulled me aside, and said nothing was definite but he was thinking about using me in the centre-back position again."

It seems Cullen was even less surprised by the performance of Cosgrove, who ousted Mark Vaughan in the forward line and proved that while form is temporary, class and talent always remain.

"I've seen a lot of Ray at training, and he was by far the most outstanding forward we've had in the last few weeks. In most of our training games, which are played at a very high intensity, he was standing out head and shoulders above all the other lads.

"But the management were very pleased about the way the changes worked out. All the guys asked to come in or move position stood up. But it was only two weeks before when everyone was giving out about our management, saying they didn't know what they were doing. So these things go in cycles, so you have to accept the praise along with the criticisms."

The only problem for Cullen and company after the Laois game is living up to the hype and expectation. Laois were poor on the day, but Dublin's stock rose considerably in the aftermath, and suddenly they were talked about not just as Leinster contenders, but as All-Ireland contenders.

"Obviously, we all had to be happy enough with our performance against Laois," adds Cullen. "And it has left a feel-good factor around the camp. But we were all so disappointed with our performance against Longford and all decided to knuckle down a bit more after that. We put in some good-quality sessions before the Laois game, and I think that showed on the pitch.

"Offaly also performed very well in their semi-final. They have an inside-forward line that would cause any team some problems, and Ciarán McManus, one of the best players in the country, is going to be driving them on.

"I've never actually played Offaly at senior level before, league or championship. I wasn't involved in the league game this year because of suspension."

Galway and Mayo are due to announce their line-ups for Sunday's Connacht football final after training tomorrow evening. Derek Savage is the main injury concern for Galway because of a leg injury, though midfielder Joe Bergin is back in contention after a recent knee injury.

Mayo are likely to announce some changes after their one-point win over Leitrim in the semi-final.

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

OFFALY (SF v Dublin): P Kelly; G Rafferty, S Sullivan, N Grennan; P McConway, S Brady, K Slattery; C McManus, A McNamee; D Hunt, P Kellaghan, N Coughlan; T Deehan, J Reynolds, N McNamee.

LAOIS (SF V Meath): F Byron; A Fennelly, D Rooney, J Higgins; P McDonald, T Kelly, P McMahon; N Garvan, B Quigley; R Munnelly, C Conway, B McCormack; B Sheehan, B McDonald, G Kavanagh.