Lane gives key roles to three championship debutants

Calling on the younger generation has fast become the trend in championship hurling this summer. It happened in Tipperary and Clare and Limerick and now it has happened in Galway.

For Sunday's quarter-final against Derry at Croke Park, manager Noel Lane has named three championship debutants - with an average age on the younger side of 21.

Midfielder Richard Murray, last year's All-Ireland winning minor captain, will be the freshest face at 19. Corner back Derek Hardiman is just 20, and was part of last year's under-21 side that lost the All-Ireland final to Limerick. And corner forward Darren Shaughnessy is just 22. The obvious question for Lane then is does he think they are up for it.

"Well there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" he says. "I believe it's always a good idea to introduce younger players each year. It is a new test for them and it is a big test and that's part of the game."

"But Darren Shaughnessy was introduced a lot for us during the league and did very well. Richard Murray was the minor captain last year and won back-to-back All-Irelands. He's a very good player as well. They've all been given the chance and here is their opportunity."

Like any other year, Galway come into the championship with their current form largely untested. It's been three months now since they concluded their National League campaign with a disappointing show against Tipperary, and although there have been some encouraging challenge results in recent weeks (including a win over Kilkenny), Lane is not prepared to make too many predictions.

"The expectations on Galway going into this championship are based on our performance in the league and in the semi-final last year. We may have had a few good challenge matches but that's exactly what they were. A challenge. It really means nothing to either team.

"And they definitely don't give you any real indication of where you are at. All we really have to go on are those performances in the league, and we were definitely poor in our league semi-final against Tipperary. If we don't improve on that then we will be out of the championship on Sunday evening."

That's not to say Derry will travel to Croke Park with even a whiff of the favourite's tag. They may have defended their Ulster title a fortnight ago and given Offaly a scare last year but anything less than a win for Galway would be upset of chilling proportions. The sides have never met before in the championship.

Still, Lane has done his homework and taken the time to look back on some of Derry's recent performances: "Well there's no doubt they could have beaten Offaly last year, only for the huge effort by Johnny Dooley, especially with his long-range points. And then we saw Offaly beat Cork, so we know Derry can't be taken lightly.

"I mean they've just won Ulster titles back-to-back, something that is not easy to do these days. They are a big, strong and very physical team and they have a lot of quality players."

Derry do have some potent scorers. Geoffrey McGonigle has been their top scorer in their two championship games to date, amassing a total of 1-14 against London and Down. Oliver Collins has scored 0-8 while John O'Dwyer has also hit 1-5.

But Lane has no complaints to make about the preparations. Since taking over from Mattie Murphy last October, he has built on his previous runs as minor and under-21 manager to search out more youthful players. Former Clare trainer Michael McNamara, who served under the All-Ireland-winning manager Ger Loughnane, has added more sting to the training sessions and although the league was ultimately disappointing, it was a valuable learning experience.

"Things have gone better for us in recent weeks. It's been a long time to be waiting, three months now, but we have worked very hard and done all the right training. The only thing to worry about is that we're still not tested. Derry have proven themselves now to be a good side and my feeling is that they want to come back to Croke Park and finish off what they should have done last year. So this will definitely be the test we are looking for."

The team for Sunday is still flooded with experience should it be needed. Although the Gantley brothers, Rory and Finbarr, were ruled out through injury, nine of the team that fell to Kilkenny in last year's All-Ireland semi-final will start.

Ollie Canning, Cathal Moore, Liam Hodgins and goalkeeper Michael Crimmins all survive from the defence and from midfield up the line-up is even more familiar, with Alan Kerins, who played for Galway footballers last Sunday against Cork, starting at right corner forward.

GALWAY (SH v Derry): M Crimmins; G Kennedy, M Healy, O Canning; D Hardiman, L Hodgins, C Moore; D Tierney, R Murray; J Rabbitte, M Kerins, K Broderick; A Kerins, E Cloonan, D Shaughnessy. Subs: L Donoghue, B Higgins, E McDonagh, F Healy, O Fahy, P Walsh, D O'Brien, D Hayes.