Galway omit Rabbitte and injured Moore

As expected, there is no Rabbitte in the Galway team to face Dublin in the National Hurling League Division 1A match at Parnell…

As expected, there is no Rabbitte in the Galway team to face Dublin in the National Hurling League Division 1A match at Parnell Park on Sunday as Joe Rabbitte remains on a self-imposed sabbatical from the intercounty set-up, but neither is Cathal Moore's name included in the side.

Manager Mattie Murphy has left a vacancy at centre half forward for a match in which the visitors will be seeking to record their third straight win of the campaign. Moore, however, is expected to shake off a niggling muscle strain and is likely to fill the number 11 jersey. Otherwise, the team shows two changes from the one that beat Clare in their last league outing with Tom Kavanagh, who was introduced as a substitute that day, taking over from Noel Kenny at midfield and Fergal Healy coming into the attack in place of Francis Forde.

Dublin, meanwhile, will be playing in their first match of the campaign and introduce cornerback Daragh Spain for a first league outing. Dual player Liam Walsh, who has already played with Dublin's footballers in the league this season, is named at right half back.

Clare haven't called on their St Joseph's Doora-Barefield contingent for tomorrow's league encounter with Antrim at Cusack Park. Instead, the management have allowed them to savour their All-Ireland club success by extending their "leave" from intercounty duty. However, Clare still make four changes in personnel from the side that fell to Galway last Sunday week.

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Michael O'Halloran, Bernard Scanlon and Enda Flannery have been brought in to shore up the defence at the expense of Frank Lohan, David Hegarty and David Scanlon, who all drop to the substitutes, while Gerard Considine comes in at left half forward, replacing Brian Minogue.

Antrim manager Seamus Elliott's quest for added firepower to assist top scorer Alaister Elliott has led to three changes - two in attack - from the side which followed up on the win over All-Ireland champions Offaly with a victory over Kerry that propelled them into a share of the Division 1A lead with Galway, albeit with a match more played.

Ronan Donnelly and Malachy Dallas have been drafted into the half-forward line for the trip to Ennis, while the third change in the starting line-up sees Ciaran McCambridge come in at right corner back. Antrim recovered from a 16-point hammering at the hands of Limerick in their opening match to beat Offaly and Kerry in successive weeks, but Elliott, with a personal tally of 2-21 out of his side's total of 3-34, is by far his team's leading scorer and the hope is that the addition of the Ballycastle duo of Donnelly and Dallas will provide greater back-up.

Waterford's Paul Flynn will make a personal appearance before the GAA's Games Administration Committee next Thursday night following his sending-off in the league match with Wexford, a dismissal that had opposing players pleading his cause. However, Flynn is automatically suspended for Sunday's encounter with Kilkenny at Walsh Park while manager Gerald McCarthy has injury worries hanging over wing-back Brian Greene and midfielder Tony Browne.

OFFALY (SF v Leitrim): P Kelly; C Daly, J Brady, D Foley; J Kenny, F Cullen, T Coffey; C McManus, S Grennan; M Daly, B O'Brien, D Ryan; P Brady, W Reynolds, V Claffey.

CORK (SH v Laois): D Cusack; D Murphy, J Murphy, F Ryan; J Sheehan, M Landers, S O hAilpin; D O'Sullivan, P Ryan; F McCormack, T McCarthy, B Coleman; S McGrath, K Morrison, J Deane.

ANTRIM (SH v Clare): S Eliott; C McCambridge, O McCloskey, O Colgan; S McMullan, G O'Kane, P McMullan; C McGuckian, J Close; J Connelly, R Donnelly, M Dallas; L Richmond, J Carson, A Elliott.

CLARE (SH v Antrim): D Fitzgerald; M O'Halloran, B Lohan, B Scanlon; E Flannery, L Doyle, A Daly; C Lynch, J Reddan; F Tuohy, N Gilligan, G Considine; A Markham, R O'Hara, D Forde.

GALWAY (SH v Dublin): D Howe; R Walsh, B Feeney, V Maher; P Walsh, L Hodgins, P Hardiman; N Shaughnessy, T Kavanagh; F Healy, AN Other, K Broderick; A Kerins, M Kerins, E Cloonan.

DUBLIN (SH v Galway): B McLoughlin; J Finnegan, S Power, D Spain; L Walsh, B O'Sullivan, L Ryan; M Fitzsimons, C McCann; D Sweeney, K O'Donoghue, T McGrane; N Butler, C Fetherstone, K Flynn.

ROSCOMMON (SH v London): A Tully; M Mulry, P Connolly, P Mannion; B Mulry, M Healy, J Mulvey; M Cunniffe, C Kelly; R Mulry, B Boyle, L Murray; S Sweeney, A Kelly, T Galvin.

KERRY (U21 F v Waterford): K Cremin; S O'Sullivan, T O'Sullivan, M McCarthy; S Hegarty, T O Se, E Galvin; T Griffin, J Sugrue; N Kennelly, A Mac Gearailt, T Kennelly; M Cahill, L Murphy, I Twiss.

Philip Reid

Philip Reid

Philip Reid is Golf Correspondent of The Irish Times