The Munster football selectors have included seven Cork players in their team for Sunday's Railway Cup semi-final against Connacht in Castlebar despite the fact that some of them have yet to return from holiday in Thailand.
The selectors, under manager Paidi O'Shea, are expected to review the situation when the Cork players return tomorrow but they have been in touch and the players involved know the situation. The Munster selection, as it stands, contains the seven Corkmen, five from Kerry, two from Limerick and one from Tipperary.
Meanwhile, news of Maurice Fitzgerald's leg injury is not as serious as previously thought. The injury occurred in the course of a challenge match in Killarney on Sunday last and there were fears that the leg might have been broken but tests have indicated no more than serious bruising.
The Leinster selectors, under manager Mattie Kerrigan, have postponed their Railway Cup selection until the Meath team return from their holiday in Dubai later in the week.
Connacht have, however, named their team and include five Galway players, four from Mayo, three from Roscommon, two from Sligo and one from Leitrim.
Strange as it may seem, the Leinster senior hurling championship gets under way, in a sense, on Sunday with the start of the Kehoe Cup. Under the new arrangements for the Leinster championship, the Kehoe Cup becomes part of the competition with the two finalists gaining entry to the round-robin section of the new-style competition.
Sunday's games feature Kildare and Carlow in Naas and Louth and Meath in Dundalk. Dublin will also entertain Offaly in a Walsh Cup senior hurling clash in Parnell Park. Meanwhile, some difficulty has arisen at Games Administration Committee level in regard to a date for the All-Ireland club championship hurling and football finals. In recent years the club finals have become a central part of the GAA's calendar and have attracted huge crowds to Croke Park on St Patrick's Day.
The rebuilding programme at Croke Park is likely to cause problems this year. Although work is going on apace, the Games Administration Committee will wait until the pairing for the finals are decided before deciding on a venue. The hurling semi-finals are fixed for February 13th with Athenry, the Connacht champions, meeting Birr from Leinster in Thurles and Cushendall from Ulster meeting St Joseph's, Doora-Barefield from Munster in Parnell Park.
In the football semi-finals Crossmolina from Connacht meet Na Fianna from Leinster in Longford and Crossmaglen Rangers, the holders from Ulster, take on UCC from Munster in Parnell Park. Both games are scheduled for February 20th.
"As things stand there are a number of options open. One is to make it an all-ticket occasion on St Patrick's Day, another is to switch the matches to Thurles and another to split the two games although that may be avoided," said GAA public relations officer, Danny Lynch.
Munster (SF v Connacht): D O'Keeffe (Kerry); M McCarthy (Kerry), S Og de Paor (Cork), A Lynch (Cork); S Moynihan (Kerry), O Sexton (Cork), D Reidy (Limerick); M O'Sullivan (Cork), J Quane (Limerick); G Keane (Cork), L Hassett (Kerry), P O'Mahoney (Cork); P Clifford (Cork), J Crow- ley (Kerry), D Browne (Tipperary). Subs: J Hanrahan (Cork), K O'Sullivan (Cork), M O'Donovan (Cork), N Murphy (Cork), N Ken- nelly (Kerry), D Daly (Kerry), K Considine (Clare), P Gallagher (Cork), M Power (Waterford), E Fitzmaurice (Kerry).
Connacht (SF v Munster): P Burke (Mayo); K Mortimer (Mayo), S Quinn (Leitrim), D Gavin (Roscommon); D Heaney (Mayo), J Divilly (Galway), M Ryan (Roscommon); S O Domhnaill (Galway), P Fallon (Mayo); J Fallon (Galway), D Duggan (Roscommon), E O'Hara (Sligo); D Sloyane (Sligo), P Joyce (Galway), N Finnegan (Galway).
