THE RETURN of Paul Galvin and Tomás Ó Sé to the Kerry team ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final against Limerick was trumped last night by Cork manager Conor Counihan naming Nicholas Murphy at full forward for their match against Mayo.
The veteran midfielder makes a timely return from injury as Counihan reshuffles his deck to cover the loss of Daniel Goulding to an ankle injury.
This is the only change from the side that comprehensively beat Down last weekend. Barry O’Driscoll, who came on for Goulding, only lasted nine minutes after fracturing his jaw. This means that captain Graham Canty is again confined to the bench as Eoin Cadogan is preferred alongside Michael Shields in the full back line. Cadogan made most of his impact around the middle third against Down.
Cork’s expected opponents in an All-Ireland semi-final, Kerry, bring Galvin back instead of Kieran O’Leary while Ó Sé’s return from suspension sees Shane Enright make way. Both men were missing at this juncture last year when Kerry lost to Down.
Meanwhile, Mickey Harte has gone with the same Tyrone team that proved too strong for Armagh for tomorrow’s qualifier against Roscommon in Croke Park.
That means automatic starters in previous years like captain Brian Dooher, Owen Mulligan, Enda McGinley, Justin McMahon, Davy Harte and Martin Penrose are again held in reserve.
McMahon, Dooher, McGinley, Penrose and Harte were introduced in the 2-13 to 0-13 defeat of Armagh at Healy Park last Saturday.
Dooher, Harte and Mulligan started the Ulster semi-final defeat to Donegal but Colm Cavanagh remains ahead of Dooher with Seán O’Neill in at right half back in place of Harte. Mulligan has been displaced in the full forward line by Tommy McGuigan, who scored 1-1 against Armagh.
The front line of the attack is completed by Mark Donnelly and former minor sensation Kyle Coney. Brian McGuigan, Tommy’s elder brother, is the only survivor in the forward line from the 2003 All-Ireland winning team.
However, there are six other starters with three All-Ireland medals, Pascal McConnell, Ryan McMenamin, Conor Gormley, Philip Jordan, Kevin Hughes and his midfield partner Seán Cavanagh. Stephen O’Neill is still unavailable for selection due to a hamstring strain.
Roscommon are due to announce their side today with the main concern being full forward Senan Kilbride, who sustained shoulder damage in the Connacht final defeat to Mayo two weeks ago. Ger Henehan or John Rogers are poised to come in.
Meanwhile, Limerick manager Maurice Horan will include Stephen Lucey or Mark O’Riordan in his plans to face Kerry now their commitments to hurling are finished for the season.
Horan’s most pressing concern is filling the void in midfield due to the red card Tom Lee received in last Saturday’s victory over Wexford. John Galvin, one of the highest rated midfielders in the country, is already out for the campaign having sustained cruciate knee ligament damage.
TYRONE(SFC v Roscommon): P McConnell; M Swift, Joe McMahon, R McMenamin; Seán O'Neill, C Gormley, P Jordan; K Hughes, S Cavanagh; C Cavanagh, B McGuigan, P Harte; T McGuigan, M Donnelly, K Coney.
CORK(SFC v Mayo): A Quirke; E Cotter, M Shields, E Cadogan; N O'Leary, J Miskella, P Kissane; A O'Connor, A Walsh; F Goold, P Kelly, P O'Neill; D O'Connor, N Murphy, P Kerrigan.
KERRY(SFC v Limerick): B Kealy; K Young, M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé, E Brosnan, A O'Mahony; A Maher, B Sheehan; P Galvin, Declan O'Sullivan, D Walsh; C Cooper, K Donaghy, Darran O'Sullivan.
