Geraghty gets seat on the bench

There will be no starting berth for Graham Geraghty in the opening championship game of the season after Colm Coyle named an …

There will be no starting berth for Graham Geraghty in the opening championship game of the season after Colm Coyle named an unchanged Meath side to take on Leinster rivals Kildare in Croke Park this Sunday.

The 1999 All-Ireland winning captain's commitments to the Fine Gael election push and his own designs on a seat in Meath West, as well as his absence from a week long training camp in Portugal, mean he will have to be content with a place on the bench at the weekend.

Eoin Harrington will make his championship debut at corner back, however, while veteran fullback Darren Fay returns after a two year absence from cup football.

Stephen Bray will also play having escaped sanction after being sent off in a recent club game.

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Clare boss Paidi O'Se has been forced to take a very different approach and will give nine players their championship debuts when his side face Waterford in Dungarvan in the Munster championship.

Fullback Conor Whelan returns to the side after injury but O'Se is without Michael O'Shea, Niall Considine, Michael O'Dwyer and Darragh Kelly who are all injured.

The Kerryman is also unable to call on Brian Considine, Padraig Gallagher, Alan Clohessy and Ger Quinlan after the quartet decided not to contest places in this year's championship side.

The absentees though, mean a chance for the new generation. Teenager David Connole will make his first championship start after rising from the minors, through the under-21s and into the senior side in the space of a month.

Under-21 right half back John Hayes and midfielder Gary Brennan have also been promoted.

Waterford will have their own debutantes on show when defenders Justin Walsh and Tomas O'Gorman take to the field to face the Banner County at right corner back and full back respectively.

Paul Ogle also returns to his place at wing back after recovering from an ankle knock.

Brian Wall will captain the side from right half forward, having opened last year's campaign at half back.

Meanwhile, Limerick look likely to be without Sean O'Connor for their Munster hurling opener against Tipperary on June 10th.

A hamstring injury sustained by the Ahane clubman in a challenge match at the weekend has left Limerick boss Richie Bennis concerned for the key full forward.

"He's an awful loss and had been playing very well at full forward, scoring goals and laying off good ball. He's a good lad to deal with too and he's a hard worker," said Bennis.

O'Connor decided to play on after feeling the hamstring tighten up on Sunday and was punished when he pulled the muscle, leaving a recuperation period of four to six weeks.

On the plus side for Limerick is the return of Brian Begley after x-rays revealed just bruising to his hand which he injured in the promotion play-off against Laois last weekend.

Bennis will try and see captain Damien Reale and defender Seamus Hickey in action in a challenge match before June 10th, but insists his team are ready to face Tipp.

"We hope to have one more challenge but it's been very hard for us to arrange games because of how the league panned out, with the whole uncertainty of it. But we're feeling good about the Tipp match - they will start as favourites but we're very well prepared."

Meath (SF v Kildare): B Murphy; E Harrington, D Fay, N McKeague; C King, A Moyles, S Kenny; M Ward, N Crawford; N McLoughlin, K Reilly, P Byrne; S Bray, B Farrell, J Sheridan.
Clare (SF v Waterford): Joe Hayes; L Healy, C Whelan, G Kelly; John Hayes, D Russell, G Lyons; F O'Dea, G Brennan; D Connole, E Coughlan, M 'Ogie' Murphy; E Talty, S Hickey, R Donnelly.
Waterford (SF v Clare): T. Wall; J. Walsh, T. O'Gorman, S. Briggs; J. Phelan, E. Rockett, P. Ogle; M. Ahern, J. Hurney; D. Wall, G. Hurney, G. Power; L. O'Linnane, A. Hubbord, W. Hennessy.