Heslin left out of Westmeath line-up

GAELIC GAMES:RISING WESTMEATH teenage star John Heslin has been left out of the under-21 team to face Longford in this evening's Leinster championship semi-final at Navan, despite returning from a four-week suspension handed down in last month's Allianz Football League.

Heslin’s immediate future with the county is uncertain as he recently attended a trial with the Australian Football League (AFL), and is reportedly being recruited by both the Melbourne club Richmond Tigers and AFL newcomers Gold Coast Suns.

Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan still hopes to have Heslin for the senior championship, whether or not he does commit to the AFL, but has decided to name an unchanged team for this evening’s meeting with Longford from that which beat Offaly two weeks ago.

Darragh Daly and David Keenan again form the midfield pairing, with Conor Lynam holding down the centre forward position to good effect, in Heslin’s absence.

WESTMEATH (Under-21 v Longford): Eoin Carberry; Ben Moran, Kieran Sheridan, Kevin Maguire; Mark McCallum, Kieran Martin, James Dolan; David Keenan, Darragh Daly; Adam Corroon, Conor Lynam, Ger Egan; Ian Coffey, Callum McCormack, Tommy McDaniel.

TIPPERARY (Under-21 v Cork): J English; R Kiely, J Ryan, M Hanly; D Leahy, E, Kenrick, J O’Callaghan; D Heffernan, P Acheson; B Hewitt, T Hanly, A Matassa; C Sweeney, D Butler, D McGrath.

LIMERICK (Under-21 v Kerry), B Scanlon; P Martin, M Sheehan, R O’Flaherty; P Sheehan, P Hannon, P Quinn; P Horan, T McCarthy; S O’Carroll, J Kelly, D Kelly; P O’Donnell, J Donovan, E O’Connor.