Dublin final might switch due to Rules

THE DUBLIN County Board has provisionally agreed to bring forward their county football final should there be any conflict with the International Rules series. The semi-finals are set for this weekend, and the final for October 24th – the day after Ireland’s first Test against Australia, at the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick. The second Test is a week later at Croke Park on October 30th.

If any Dublin club players that make the decider are also part of the Ireland panel – Bernard Brogan and Michael Dara Macauley are in contention to do so – then the county final will be brought forward by seven days, and most likely played on Sunday week, October 17th.

For now it is a hypothetical move, and will depend on the outcome of this weekend’s semi-finals. But first up is this evening’s quarter-final replay between Ballyboden St Enda’s and St Vincent’s, at Parnell Park – with Macauley in action for Ballyboden.

The winners there progress to meet Kilmacud Crokes in one of the semi-final pairings, with that game set for Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon. The other semi-final is set for Saturday evening, and sees St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh take on St Brigid’s – with Brogan in action for Plunkett’s.

There could therefore potentially be two Dublin players on the Ireland team that will also contest the Dublin county final, and on that basis the county board has provisionally agreed to bring the final forward, if required.

Both Brogan and Macauley have attended the initial trials under Ireland manager Anthony Tohill, to reportedly good effect. Brogan in fact missed out on the series in Australia two years ago due to a similar conflict with the club championship.

Tohill, meanwhile, will stage a final trial game in Limerick on Saturday before announcing his 30-strong squad early next week. Tohill currently has 45 players on his provisional panel, but this will be cut after Saturday.

Two former Kerry players now part of the Australian code – Tadhg Kennelly and Tommy Walsh – are in line to make the final cut, with Kennelly particularly keen to play having missed out on the 2008 series in Australia through injury.

Meanwhile, AIB have announced a new campaign to mark the start of the 2010/2011 club championship, calling on supporters to share their story about their GAA club hero. All those who enter, via www.clubisfamily.ie, are in with a chance to win €5,000 for their club and a €500 voucher for their club hero.

The four players at yesterday’s launch were first to nominate their heroes: Dublin’s Alan Brogan nominated his father, Bernard Brogan Snr; Galway’s Ollie Canning nominated Celia Keane, Portumna club treasurer; Kerry’s Colm “Gooch” Cooper nominated his club’s (Dr Crokes) groundskeeper Der Brosnan, and Tipperary’s Pádraic Maher nominated Thomas Callanan, Thurles Sarsfields’ club secretary.

Finally, the Mayo football team leave for New York tomorrow for Sunday’s FBD League final, to be played in the new GAA facilities at Rockland. However newly-appointed manager James Horan has decided not to travel, leaving the trip to the 2010 panel, which defeated Galway in the home final in February.