Offaly have left a vacancy in their line-up for Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Antrim at Croke Park. The Offaly selectors are still, apparently, hopeful that Joe Dooley will be fit in time to take his place in the team following a leg injury suffered in the Leinster final against Kilkenny.
The left corner forward position has been left vacant as Dooley continues to have treatment for a dead leg, but the list of substitutes has not been completed pending medical reports later in the week.
The team features one other change of personnel from that which started against Kilkenny: Joe Errity is named at full forward, while Billy Dooley, who started at right corner forward in the Leinster final, can find no place in the first 15.
Errity was brought in as a substitute for Dooley in the Leinster final - and was replaced himself with 11 minutes left by Ger Oakley.
Positionally, John Ryan, who was named at centre forward for the Kilkenny game, is now given the number 13 jersey, while John Troy is named at centre forward, having started against Kilkenny at full forward.
Meanwhile, two of the country's most prominent footballers, Paul Curran of Dublin and Tommy Dowd of Meath, seem unlikely to take any part in the Leinster football final on Sunday week.
Curran is regarded as very doubtful after breaking his collar bone in the first of the two games against Laois in the Leinster semi-final. The injury forced him to miss last Sunday's replay.
Dowd has a severe back problem, which he sustained in a club match some weeks ago and then aggravated in the Leinster semi-final against Offaly.
He hasn't trained since in any realistic way and is, according to sources close to the team, most unlikely to play in the Leinster final.
A scheme to encourage the playing of football in places where it is not normally played continues with the staging of a tournament hosted by Cooley Kickhams in Louth during the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Over the years since 1992, teams from New York, Warwickshire, London, Hertfordshire, Scotland, Yorkshire, Canada and Kilkenny have taken part in the tournament. Previously the tournament was staged in Kilkenny and Clare but Cooley Kickhams have hosted the scheme on a regular basis in recent years and it has proved to be a very popular event both with the visiting teams and the local people. A full weekend of activity including matches, coaching and social gatherings are scheduled and it is intended that local teams will also take part. Admission to Sunday's All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals at Croke Park will be by ticket only. The minor quarter final between Galway and Clare starts at 1.00, and the first senior match, between Antrim and Offaly at 2.40.
The match between Clare and Galway begins at 4.20. Tickets will be on sale today and tomorrow at the ticket outlet opposite the Hogan Stand.
Prices for the Hogan and New Stand are £12, and £8 is the charge for Hill 16. Students and senior citizens will be admitted to the Nally Stand, for which tickets are £5. People wishing to avail of that facility are advised to arrive early as there are a limited number of seats.
Family tickets (£12 per adult and £3 per child) are available for competing counties and from Croke Park outlets.
In regard to the coverage here of the Leinster football semi-final replay between Dublin and Laois last Sunday it was incorrectly stated that the former Dublin player, Robbie Kelleher, had made comments about the game to this reporter.
This was incorrect and this writer takes full responsibility and accepts that he did not speak to Robbie Kelleher after that match but to another Dublin player of that era. Sincere apologies are offered to all concerned.
