Hurlers key to Limerick's football strategy

GAELIC GAMES/TEAM NEWS:THE LIMERICK football team to face Kerry in Sunday's Munster final at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, remains unchanged from that which over-ran Waterford on June 6th.

Exiled intercounty hurlers Mark O’Riordan, Stephen Lucey and James Ryan retain key positions in the line-up with O’Riordan expected to do a man-marking job on one of the dangerous Kerry full forwards, while Lucey will hold the line at centre back. Ryan leads the attack from centre forward alongside captain Séanie Buckley and Pádraig Browne. Another hurler, Conor Fitzgerald, is named amongst the substitutes.

Twelve of the team that contested last year’s provincial final against Cork are retained with goalkeeper Brian Scanlon, corner back Andrew Lane and Ryan the newcomers. Other key figures in Mikey Ned O’Sullivan’s line-up is the hugely under-rated midfielder John Galvin and full forward Ian Ryan – who has been courted by Australian Rules scouts in recent seasons. “Cork were extremely lucky last season to beat Limerick,” noted Kerry selector Ger O’Keeffe. “We are well aware they will be no pushovers.”

The Kerry management will huddle around a list of names this evening with just one player from the panel not being considered. As already widely reported, the current footballer-of-the-year Paul Galvin is serving a suspension.

So, conceivably, manager Jack O’Connor could select the same starting 15 that took the field against Cork in the replayed semi-final as Galvin only came in as a substitute on June 13th for David Moran. Granted, that was after 27 minutes.

Coping with the presence of Limerick’s powerful midfielder John Galvin will be a major concern. The Kerry midfield has yet to settle since Darragh Ó Sé’s retirement with Séamus Scanlon the senior partner now although O’Connor doesn’t appear to have made a permanent decision regarding the selection of Michael Quirke or Anthony Maher – Quirke replaced Maher the last day having been initially preferred to him in the drawn fixture. Moran is another option in the middle.

Barry John Keane has been made a scoring impact off the bench but the free-taking expertise of Bryan Sheehan gives him an advantage and importance within the team while last year’s captain Darren O’Sullivan is still unable to nail down a place in the forwards but, like Keane, he remains a regular alternative in the second half.

All will be revealed tonight.

Meanwhile, Dublin hurling manager Anthony Daly has lost the services of one of his key marksmen for the hurling qualifier against Clare at Croke Park on Saturday week as David Treacy has been ruled out with a hamstring strain.

Niall Rigney has stepped down as Laois hurling boss in the wake of last Saturday’s surprise AllIreland qualifier exit at the hands of Carlow.

The Portlaoise man had been at the helm for two full seasons with Laois, having succeeded Damian Fox midway through 2008.

Rigney, who had served as a selector under Fox, guided Laois to Liam McCarthy Cup safety later that season before masterminding last summer’s victory over Antrim.

Antrim have been rocked by the defection of CJ McGourty from their squad for Saturday’s qualifier replay against Kildare at Casement Park.

McGourty, who leaves for the US today, turned in a superb second-half performance in the Ulster quarter-final defeat by Tyrone, landing four points from play after his introduction from the bench. He was again deployed as a substitute in Saturday’s drawn game against Kildare and had been expected to make the starting line-up for the replay.

LIMERICK (SF v Kerry): B Scanlon; M O’Riordan, J McCarthy, A Lane; S Lavin, S Lucey, P Ranahan; J ODonovan, J Galvin; P Browne, J Ryan, S Buckley (capt); G Collins, I Ryan, S Kelly.