The Offaly selectors have left two positions vacant - midfield and centre forward - on the team to play Clare in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final replay at Croke Park on Saturday. The doubtful starters are Paudie Mulhare and John Troy.
Mulhare has a sprained ankle and Troy a groin strain. Both injuries have been slow to heal, but the players have indicated that they are determined to regain full fitness by Saturday and they are being given every chance of doing so by the selectors. However, if they are ruled out the team may have to be considerably altered because both are crucial figures. Croke Park confirmed yesterday that an appeal against the three-month suspension imposed on Clare midfielder Colin Lynch by the Munster Council has been received and will be considered by the Management Committee next week. Clare will certainly be without the services of P J O'Connell who has a broken thumb while worries persist about the fitness of right half back Liam Doyle.
Saturday's match will be the first semi-final replay in the hurling championship since Galway beat Limerick at the same stage in 1981. Offaly won that year's championship by beating Galway, the reigning champions, by 2-12 to 0-15 when Johnny Flaherty scored a dramatic late goal.
Arrangements for the match are similar to those for the drawn match. Tickets for the Hogan Stand will be available at the shop across the road from the Hogan Stand (£18) while cash will be taken at the turnstiles for other parts of the ground. On the football front, Galway and Derry are expected to name their teams tonight. Derry are reported to be injury free but Galway continue to worry about Kevin Walsh, their talented midfielder, who has not yet recovered from a pulled calf muscle.
Walsh sustained the injury in the Connacht final replay and has been under treatment since. On his own initiative he did not take part in any of the celebrations with the other players after their Connacht victory. Instead he went for treatment the following morning and then took two weeks' unscheduled leave to concentrate on getting the injury to heal. The Galway manager, John O'Mahony, has responded by allowing Walsh as much time as he needs to regain full fitness and hopes are high that he will be fit to take his place in midfield for the Connacht champions.
Michael Kennedy is involved in a race against time to be fit to play for Tipperary in the Munster under-21 hurling final against Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday. Senior player Kennedy, who has a back complaint, and defender Eamonn Corcoran, troubled by a shoulder injury, will undergo fitness tests later this week. Hopeful that both players will be passed fit to play, the selectors have decided to leave the right half back and the left full forward positions vacant until the weekend.
Tipperary have a number of injury worries in the run-up to the game. With another senior player, Paul Kelly, already ruled out of contention with a damaged collar-bone, Thomas Costello and Eddie Carey are fighting to regain full fitness while dual player Declan Browne is recovering from illness. All three players are listed among the substitutes. In the absence of Kelly the Mark O'Leary returns to the attack following injury.
Offaly (SH v Clare): S Byrne; S Whelahan, K Kinahan, M Hanamy; B Whelahan, H Rigney, K Martin; J Pilkington, A N Other; D Hanniffy, A N Other, Joe Dooley; Johnny Dooley, J Ryan, M Duignan. Subs: E Kennedy, J Troy, P Mulhare, B Dooley, J Errity, G Hannify, Barry Whelahan, K Farrell, C Cassidy, G Oakley, N Murphy, N Claffey, C Murphy, E Martin, M Rigney.
Tipperary (Under-21 H v Cork): F Horgan; P Ormond, S Hickey, W Hickey; AN Other, D Fahey, D Fogarty; P Rabbitte, J Carroll; K Dunne, M O'Leary, L Cahill; J Enright, E O'Neill, AN Other. Subs: J Cottrell, F Heaney, T Costello, W Maher, D Browne, P Maher, P O'Brien, A Doyle, M Morris, M Kennedy, E Corcoran, H Flannery, T Keane, M Bevans, E Carey.
