Galway make their move to stop hat-trick

Galway manager John Hardiman has made a number of adjustments to his under-21 team in an effort to prevent Limerick from winning a third successive All-Ireland title in Thurles this Sunday.

From the Galway team that beat Wexford in the semi-final, there are two changes in personnel and several positional switches.

The experienced John Culkin returns to the defence and gets a starting place at left corner back as an indirect swap for Aidan Diviney.

Tony Óg Regan is also given a starting place at midfield, alongside key scorer Ger Farragher, and as a result David Forde moves to wing back to replace MJ Quinn.

Cathal Dervan has recovered from the concussion suffered in the intermediate hurling final against Tipperary and is named again at centre back.

Though the same six forwards are named, dual player Kevin Brady swaps with Adrian Cullinane and now starts at left half forward, with Cullinane at full forward.

Galway are seeking their first title at under-21 level since 1996, and their 10-point win over Wexford last month was a significant improvement on last year when they fell to the same opposition at the semi-final stage.

The team includes established seniors Richie Murray and Damien Hayes, while Brady's dual player skills have also played an influential role.

Last Saturday, Brady played a notable role at wing back for the Galway under-21 footballers who successfully by-passed Kerry to reach next month's final against Dublin.

Yet, Limerick will start Sunday's final as favourites.

They stretched their unbeaten run in under-21 championship hurling to 14 games with the clear-cut win over Antrim in last month's semi-final, and still have four survivors from their All-Ireland success of the last two years - goalkeeper Timmy Houlihan, defenders Damien Reale and Eugene Mulcahy, and forward Mark Keane.

Keane, their regular free-taker, pulled a hamstring playing with his club South Liberties, while Niall Moran is nursing a swollen thumb after sustaining the injury in training.

Both players are likely to be passed fit, however. Captain Peter Lawlor has recovered from a knee injury that ruled him out of the 14-point semi-final victory over Antrim.

GALWAY (Under-21 HC v Limerick): A Diviney; B Mahoney, S Kavanagh, J Culkin; F Moore, C Dervan, D Forde; T Óg Regan, G Farragher; R Murray, M Coughlan, K Brady; D Hayes, A Cullinane, D Green.