Farragher is fit to face Kilkenny

Ger Farragher has been passed fit and ready for Galway's All-Ireland hurling semi-final against Kilkenny on Sunday. The young Castlegar player had been nursing a leg injury for most of last week, but having come through the final training session last night was named in his usual position of right corner forward for the game at Croke Park.

As the team's top scorer, with 1-40 in four games, Farragher was always going to be paramount to Galway's chances of beating Kilkenny - and manager Conor Hayes was determined to give him every chance of proving his fitness. It means Galway will start with an unchanged team from that which beat Tipperary on July 31st, although there are several positional switches.

Tony Óg Regan moves back to the edge of the square from his usual centre-back position, a switch that was actually made in the Tipperary game to good effect. As a result Shane Kavanagh moves into the half-back line alongside Derek Hardiman and David Collins.

The midfield pairing of Fergal Healy and David Tierney remains intact, but Galway's wing forwards have been switched. Richie Murray will wear the number 10 shirt, having started at full forward the last day, and Alan Kerins moves across to the other wing - with David Forde, as expected, staying at centre forward. Niall Healy thus makes the move to full forward alongside Farragher and Damien Hayes.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody will announce his starting line-up after a final run-out this evening, as has been his custom this summer, as he attempts to secure a fourth successive appearance in the All-Ireland final.

There is growing expectation that John Hoyne will be given a starting place in attack at the expense of either Eoin Larkin or Richie Power.

Sunday's game marks a repeat of last year's qualifier in Thurles, when Kilkenny trounced Galway 4-20 to 1-10. There are five changes to that Galway line-up, with Kavanagh, Collins, Healy, Farragher and Murray getting the chance to make amends for last year. Galway did surprise Kilkenny in their last semi-final meeting in 2001, but before that their last win was in 1987.

Meanwhile, the Dublin minor hurling team shows one change for tomorrow's All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick, which has a 12.30 start in Nowlan Park.

Kilmacud's dual player Shane O'Rourke, a second-half substitute in the Leinster final win over Wexford, has been named at right half forward in an indirect swap for Joey Maher.

As a result, Shane Durkin is moved to left wing forward and Kevin O'Reilly starts at corner forward. Otherwise, the team is unchanged from that which beat Wexford in the Leinster final back on July 3rd, a victory that secured Dublin's first provincial minor title since 1983.

DUBLIN (MH v Limerick): C McCormack; R Drumgoole, P Callaghan, E Walsh; K Dunne, T Brady, C Connolly; J Boland, J McCaffrey; S O'Rourke, S Casey, S Durkin; R O'Carroll, D O'Dwyer, K O'Reilly. Subs: S Murphy, C Twomey, S Bennett, V Byrne, J Gilligan, D Keogh, B McLoughlin, A O'Leary, J Maher.

GALWAY (SH v Kilkenny): L Donoghue; D Joyce, T Óg Regan, O Canning; D Hardiman, S Kavanagh, D Collins; F Healy, D Tierney; R Murray, D Forde, A Kerins; G Farragher, N Healy, D Hayes.