GAELIC GAMES:ALL-IRELAND football champions Kerry have deferred selection of the team to face Cork in Sunday's Munster semi-final replay. Injury concerns about half of the team's defence – Marc Ó Sé, Tommy Griffin and Mike McCarthy – have prompted manager Jack O'Connor to hold off before naming his side.
Effectively O’Connor’s Cork counterpart Conor Counihan has done the same thing by announcing an unchanged team earlier in the day. Experience suggests Counihan will make changes, as he has done in the each of the past two years despite naming the same teams for the 2009 and 2008 replays against Kerry.
Speculation in Cork centres on the return from injury of John Miskella who appeared in the drawn match in Killarney as well as another replacement Colm O’Neill with Noel O’Leary and Donncha O’Connor potentially under pressure.
Former Footballer of the Year Matty Forde returns to the Wexford footballers’ line-up for the first time in two years after finally putting long-term injury behind him. Jason Ryan’s selection includes two debutants, Joey Wadding and Daithi Waters.
The team to play the Leinster quarter-final against Dublin features 10 of the players who lined out when the counties last met in the championship two years ago, in what turned out to be a one-sided provincial final – Wexford’s first in 52 years.
Conversely Dublin’s team, released earlier in the week, includes just three players from that match, goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, wing back Barry Cahill and right corner forward Conal Keaney.
Paul Cahillane, the former Glasgow Celtic triallist whose goals were an important part of Portlaoise’s progress to a Leinster club title last year, is the only newcomer named on Seán Dempsey’s Laois team for the quarter-final against Meath in Croke Park.
Fermanagh manager Malachy O’Rourke gives championship debuts to Barry Mulrone, Daniel Ward and Chris O’Brien for tomorrow evening’s Ulster quarter-final against Cavan.
Rory Gallagher will line out at full forward, his first championship appearance for the county in five years. Injury means that Peter Sherry and Shane Goan are unavailable.
Meanwhile, Croke Park have declined to comment on yesterday evening’s Ulster Council statement, which is openly critical of the GAA for scheduling a Rackard Cup match between London and Armagh for tomorrow, the day before the exiles were due to play Down in the Ulster hurling championship semi-final, a fixture the provincial council has now cancelled.
Earlier London had released a statement registering “serious disappointment” with the Ulster Council for not agreeing to a postponement of the Down match and saying that expecting them to play two matches in successive days.
“As far as we’re concerned,” said London spokesperson John Joe Burke, “there is no reason why the Ulster Council can’t apply some flexibility here”.
In response, the Ulster Council pointed out its draw was made last autumn.
CORK: (SFC v Kerry) A Quirke; R Carey, G Canty, J O’Sullivan; N O’Leary, M Shields, P Kissane; A O’Connor, A Walsh; P O’Neill, D O’Connor, P Kelly; D Goulding, C Sheehan, P Kerrigan.
WEXFORD (SFC v Dublin): A Masterson; J Wadding, G Molloy, B Malone; C Morris, D Murphy, A Doyle; D Waters, E Bradley; S Roche, R Barry, A Flynn; C Lyng, PJ Banville, M Forde.
LAOIS (SFC v Meath): M Nolan; P OLeary, M Timmons, P McMahon (capt.); C Healy, C Ryan, C Begley; B Quigley, K Meaney; B Sheehan, C Rogers, D Strong; P Cahillane, D Kingston, R Munnelly.
FERMANAGH (v Cavan): Ronan Gallagher; N Bogue, S Lyons, B Mulrone; D Ward, R McCluskey, T McElroy; J Sherry, M McGrath; D Keenan, R Carson, M Little; P Ward, Rory Gallagher, C O’Brien.
