Tomorrow

Munster (First Round)

Limerick v Tipperary

Gaelic Grounds (3.30)

If ever two teams have had to live in the shadows of their hurling brethren, it is this pair. But at least Tipperary, on a couple of occasions this decade, have threatened to shake off the shackles by reaching provincial football finals. By contrast, Limerick's lot has been a very unhappy one. The remarkable thing is that the bigger the opponent in the first round, the more Limerick are inclined to raise their game - think of Cork two years ago, and Kerry back in 1991. Still, as far as ultimate championship success is concerned, both sides set out on the journey tomorrow with the same underdogs tag attached to them, even if Tipperary's win over Clare in their final league games provides a hint of some hidden promise.

Selections

Tipperary: P Ryan; N Kelly, C O'Dwyer, L Cronin; B Hahessy, M Sheahan, S Collum; D Foley, J Costello; S Maher, B Cummins, B Burke; P Lambert, C O'Shea, D Browne.

Limerick - E Scollard; D Sheehy, B Begley, G O'Connor; M Dineen, T McGarry, N Kelly; J Quane, P Keyes; M Reidy, P Galvin, D Reidy; T Cummins, M Doherty, S Aherne.

Team News

Tipperary are packed with experience, Limerick pick a far more youthful team. Brian Begley, who is just 19 years old, lines out at full back and is one of nine Limerick players making their championship debuts. In fact, only four Limerick players - Ger O'Connor, John Quane, Pat Galvin and Damien Reidy - remain from last year's first-round replay defeat to the same opponents. Meanwhile, almost half of the Tipperary side have experience of a Munster final (from four and five years ago when they lost, on both occasions, to Cork in the final) and only full forward Conor O'Shea is new to championship football.

Key Confrontation

The Tipperary attack possesses a number of top-class forwards: Brendan Cummins, the county's hurling goalkeeper, has a habit of grabbing crucial scores, and Peter Lambert, fast and clinical, would be a handful for an defender. All of which means that this game's outcome could decide on how Limerick's defence handle this attacking threat. If they keep tabs on Lambert and company, they're in with a shout. If they don't, then another first-round exit awaits.

View From The Camps

"We've trained hard, and playing football in a better National League division should stand to us. We went from playing in front of 200 or 300 people to facing the likes of Kildare in front of 10,000 and our players responded very well. I've used something like 65 or 66 players since I took over last September so nobody can say they didn't get a chance - and although we go into this game as total underdogs, I'm confident we'll give Tipperary a good match," - Paddy Mulvihill (Limerick manager). "Colm Browne (manager) has taken a lot of new ideas with him and has brought the team on significantly . . . if we lose, it'll be a disaster," - Brendan Cummins (Tipperary forward).

Verdict: Tipperary.

Leinster SF

Preliminary Round replay

Longford v Wexford

Pearse Park (3.30, extra-time if necessary)

At least the campaign was extended by a week for whoever happens to lose tomorrow. Last Sunday's drawn match was, by all accounts, a lively affair - even if the respective defences were a little loose. The expectation is that this game will be a good deal tighter, and the momentum should be with Longford (who haven't won a championship game in eight years) who recovered from an eight-point deficit to bring the replay to a home venue. Then again, will Wexford let go so easily again?

Selections

Wexford: J Cooper; C Roche, P Wallace, D Breen; D Redmond, D Ryan, L O'Brien; J Harrington, O Kinlough; R Kinsella, M Mahon, S Doran; J Lawlor, J Byrne, J Hegarty.

Longford (Probable): G Hourican (or D Roughan); C Keogh, G Brady, C Conefrey; C Hanniffy, F McNamee, T Smullen; A Keogh, D Hanniffy; S Donlon, E Barden, D Blessington; D Barry, N Sheridan, P Davis.

Team News

Wexford have kept faith with the same 15 who started the first day (even though three substitutes were used in the course of the match), but Longford were forced to wait until training last night to decide who would man the goalkeeping position. In fact, the Longford number one jersey appears to be carrying some sort of jinx. Their first-choice custodian, Gavin Tonra has been ruled out (and missed last week's game) because of injury, and Gordon Hourican, who minded the net in the drawn game, has been struggling all week. David Roughan (the county's third choice) placed on stand-by.

Key Confrontation

Wexford have put behind them the image of being a team of big, strong players. And no-one lives up to the new image of a fast and lively outfit as much as cornerforward Jason Lawlor. He scored 1-3 and set up another goal in the first match. If the Longford defence fail to keep tabs on him this time it could prove very costly.

View From The Camps

"We've basically got to cut down on our mistakes and tighten up our defence. We scored 1-16 and that would be enough to win most games. We've concentrated on ball work and sharpness this week - limiting training to just two sessions (Thursday and Friday). We're two evenly-matched sides and I expect another 50-50 game," - Michael McCormack (Longford manager).

"We went to sleep in the last 10 minutes of the drawn match and we can't allow that to happen again. We shouldn't have allowed them back into the game. We've been working very hard for a number of months and training three or four times a week. That should pay off for us," - Cyril Hughes (Wexford manager).

Verdict: Wexford.

Today

Under-21 Football Final

Kerry v Laois

Gaelic Grounds (3.30)

Laois, who have been quite irresistible in landing the All-Ireland minor football crown for the past two years, are flying high in more ways than one these days. For this afternoon's match - live on Network Two - UCD student Niall Collins, shortly after completing his exams on the Belfield campus, will be whisked to Limerick by helicopter in order to line out at right half back. But Laois's young players have generally shown an ability to keep their feet on the ground, demonstrated by the way they kept their calm in the face of a late Galway onslaught in the semi-final two weeks ago and scrambled through by a point.

Their march to yet another All-Ireland final has been backboned by an impressive forward unit: Ian Fitzgerald, Chris Conway and Brian `Beano' McDonald are among the top young talent in the country. And Laois have the psychological edge over Kerry in that they beat them in the minor final two years ago.

Kerry, though, are boosted by the return of Mike Francis Russell. He came on as a substitute in the semi-final win over Armagh last Sunday (his first match since suffering a hamstring injury in assisting Tralee to the Sigerson Cup in March) and, playing alongside full forward Noel Kennelly, will give the Laois defence plenty to think about. Still, it looks like another day of celebration for Laois.