FERMANAGH coach Malachy O'Rourke has named the same side that started against Derry ahead of the Ulster football final against Armagh on Sunday. That means All Star full back Barry Owens is again held in reserve despite scoring a goal when coming off the bench in the semi-final.
Along with another replacement, Shane McCabe, Owens will be expected to play a significant role when coming off the bench. McCabe is required to return to soccer duties with Glentoran after Sunday's game.
There are five changes on the Tipperary football team to play Westmeath in Ardfinnan on Saturday in the qualifiers with Christopher Aylward, George Hannigan, Philip Austin, Hugh Coghlan (an All-Ireland club winner with St Vincent's) and Brian Coen coming into the team.
The Offaly football team to play Down in Tullamore shows four changes from the side defeated by Westmeath on June 7th with Niall Darby and Jason Kelly making their championship debuts, while James Coughlan and John Reynolds are recalled. Regular full back Shane Sullivan is suspended, while Brian Darby, Alan McNamee and Thomas Deehan are dropped.
Brendan Quigley returns to the Laois midfield ahead of Saturday's qualifier against Longford.
Quigley has recovered from a head and ankle injury to form a new partnership with John O'Loughlin after Kevin Meaney (hamstring) and Padraig Clancy (suspension) were not considered.
Joe Higgins is also out with a hamstring injury and will be replaced by Cathal Ryan. Donie Kingston and Barry Brennan come into a rejigged attack.
Meanwhile, Paul Galvin's hopes of playing intercounty football in 2008 will be definitively quashed or revived next Monday evening.
The Disputes Resolution Authority arbitration process (the end of the line for GAA appeals) began last Tuesday at 7.30pm but was adjourned at about 2.30am until after the weekend.
The Galvin case has been put back down the queue due to the more time-sensitive appeals of Monaghan's Paul Finlay and Dublin's Collie Moran, who are seeking to overturn suspensions ahead of weekend matches.
The Kerry captain is seeking to minimise a 24-week suspension received after slapping referee Paddy Russell's notebook from his hand and remonstrating with linesman Michael Meade in the match against Clare on June 15th.
The DRA normally reaches a conclusion to arbitration in a single sitting, but in this case there was an hour and a half delay when additional documents were furnished at the start of proceedings.
This seems to indicate the Galvin defence team unearthed a technicality or legal loophole to contest his suspension. Otherwise, there would be little point in taking the case to the DRA as it is independent of the GAA disciplinary process and was created to ensure players desisted from taking appeals to the High Court.
Galvin had hearings with the Central Hearings Committee and Central Appeals Committee, but to no avail. If his ban is halved to 12 weeks, he would be available for the All-Ireland final on September 21st, should Kerry progress that far. "Further arguments are still to be presented by both sides along with the submission of further evidence," explained the DRA secretary Liam Keane.
Monaghan footballer Paul Finlay was at the DRA last night seeking to overturn his eight-week suspension dating back to the Ulster championship defeat to Fermanagh on May 25th. Finlay was sanctioned for verbal abuse of referee Derek Fahy after full-time. The result is expected today.
As a result, Monaghan manager Séamus McEnaney has held off naming his team for Saturday's qualifier against Derry in Clones. Gary McQuaid is already ruled out through suspension.
Moran's appeal of a four-week suspension arising from the Westmeath match on June 29th, when referee Padraig Hughes upgraded a yellow card to red after viewing replays of the Dublin player's collision with Dermot Bannon.
LAOIS (SFC v Longford): M Nolan; C Healy, D Rooney, C Ryan; P OLeary, T Kelly, P McMahon; B Quigley, J OLoughlin; R Munnelly, B Brennan, B McCormack; MJ Tierney, C Parkinson, D Kingston.
OFFALY (SFC v Down): P Kelly; G Rafferty, S Brady, P McConway; K Slattery, J Keane, N Grennan; C McManus, N Smith; N Darby, J Coughlan, J Kelly; P Kellaghan, J Reynolds, N McNamee.
FERMANAGH (SFC v Armagh): R Gallagher; S Goan, S McDermott, P Sherry; D Kelly, R McCluskey, T McElroy; M McGrath (capt), M Murphy; C McElroy, J Sherry, R Keenan; E Maguire, L McBarron, M Little.
TIPPERARY (SFC v Westmeath): P Fitzgerald; N Curran, M Peters, C McDonald; P Codd, R Costigan, C Aylward; E Hanrahan, G Hannigan; D O'Brien, P Austin, H Coghlan; S Carey (capt), B Coen, B Grogan.
