Waterford looking for more home comfort

Rarely has home advantage carried as much weight in the opening rounds of the Allianz Hurling League, at least in Division 1A. Six games played, six home victories, although for Waterford the task of maintaining that trend on Sunday is not helped by the absence of several first-choice players.

Manager Derek McGrath is still without the likes of Liam Lawlor, Maurice Shanahan, Darragh Fives, Stephen Daniels and Richie Foley for Dublin’s visit to Walsh Park.

McGrath has also made two changes from the team that beat Galway in round two, a result which helped leave all six teams on level-pegging, with two points apiece.

Stephen O’Keeffe, fresh from winning a Fitzgibbon Cup title with Waterford IT last weekend, takes over the goalkeeping duties from Ian O’Regan, while Shane McNulty is named at midfield as an indirect replacement for the injured Brian O’Sullivan.

Forward Pauric Mahony, also part of the Waterford IT success, also keeps his place at centre forward, although college team-mate Jake Dillon was ruled out through illness.

His place
With Clare, Galway and Tipperary all winning at home on the opening weekend, and then Dublin, Kilkenny and Waterford all winning at home in round two, Sunday's games could see Kilkenny host Galway and Tipperary face Clare at home.

Dublin’s former All Star Alan McCrabbe is likely to retain his place in Anthony Daly’s starting line-up, with regular free-taker Paul Ryan still out injured. McCrabbe shot 0-9, all from placed balls, in Dublin’s victory over Clare in round two.

Wexford’s push for promotion from Division 1B may have got off to the perfect start with two wins out of two, but they must play the rest of the campaign without defender Andrew Shore following confirmation that he sustained a broken ankle while playing for Leinster in their Interprovincial series win over Connacht in Croke Park last Saturday.

Wexford manager Liam Dunne is also down two other defenders for Sunday’s potential crucial showdown against Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds, with Ciarán Kenny (hamstring) ruled out while Richie Kehoe is suspended.

Galway footballers' league campaign has been given a timely boost with the return to fitness of full-back and former captain Finian Hanley. With three defeats out of out three, Galway host Down on Sunday needing to get something on the board to help steer them off the bottom of the table.

Seven trophies
Meanwhile the GAA has announced a new range of trophies for its colleges' competitions in football and hurling. The Hogan and Croke Cup titles have been retained for the senior 'A' championships in football and hurling respectively, while representatives of both the colleges and vocational sectors are remembered in the dedication of the other seven trophies, including GAA founder Michael Cusack, former Tyrone minor footballer Paul McGirr, and Galway hurler Niall McInerney.

This year all post-primary schools championships have also been integrated, whereas previously, vocational schools and colleges had competed separately – with the All-Ireland semi-finals commencing this Saturday.

Allocated trophies are as follows – Senior Hurling ‘A’: Croke Cup; Senior Football ‘A’: Hogan Cup: Senior Hurling ‘B’: Paddy Buggy Cup: Senior Football ‘B’: Paddy Drummond Cup; Senior Hurling ‘C’: Michael Cusack Cup: Senior Football ‘C’: Dr. Éamonn O’Sullivan Cup; Senior Football ‘D’: Br Edmond Ignatius Rice Cup; Junior Hurling: Niall McInerney Cup: Junior Football: Paul McGirr Cup.