John Divilly has regained his place on the Galway senior football team for next Sunday's All-Ireland football final against Kerry at Croke Park. His selection ahead of Jason Killeen is the only change to the side which started in last month's semi-final win over Kildare.
There is no place for Kevin Walsh who, like Divilly, came on as a substitute in the semi-final. Walsh played very well after taking the field, but the decision to persevere with Sean O Domhnaill, who was below par the last day, wasn't unexpected.
"Like any team going into an All-Ireland final, we had to make a number of close calls. But as I've said several times this season, football nowadays is a 20man game," says Galway manager John O'Mahony.
The replacements' bench hasn't been narrowed down yet and the whole panel is named for the moment.
Divilly's recall was expected, although it wasn't a clear-cut choice. When he came on in the semi-final for Killeen, Divilly brought strength and focus to the defence but also conceded three points in two minutes when marking Karl O'Dwyer.
Killeen had held the pivotal defensive position all season. Normally a full back with his club Corofin, his future is seen at centre back, but an All-Ireland final would have been a big step up on the standard of most of the matches he has played this year.
Experience is likely to have been the deciding factor in Divilly's selection. An ever-present in the successful 1998 campaign, he actually had his best display in the final and his ability to deliver long, penetrative ball into the attack has been the platform for many of the team's offensives.
In Walsh's case, he has had little football this year and the last day's outing was actually his most protracted appearance this season after coming on for a couple of minutes in the Connacht final.
Newcomer Joe Bergin has had a fine debut championship at only 19 and his place was assured. But the thinking was probably that O Domhnaill has better in him than he showed against Kildare and that the experienced Walsh would be a better bet to throw into a match which was going wrong rather than a dropped O Domhnaill.
