Tyrone have named Eoin Gormley to replace Peter Canavan at full forward for Sunday's big match with Down in the Ulster championship at Omagh. Manager Danny Ball and his selectors have been afflicted with a litany of injuries in recent weeks and the side selected is short at least five players who would have staked a place in the starting line-up.

The controversial injury to Peter Canavan, who received a broken jaw in the course of a club match, deprived the team of the country's most consistent forward in the middle of this decade.

Even at their best, Tyrone relied on a substantial contribution from Canavan and although his form hasn't been at its best in the last two years, his loss to the team is severe.

His injury was followed by the news that brother Pascal had injured his ankle and so deprived the team of another influential member whose versatility was a feature of the county's back-to-back Ulster titles in 1995 and '96.

The list is added to by the longterm injury to Noel Donnelly (recovering from a cartilege operation) who, although he missed out on the Ulster title wins, was the county's best player last year, Seamus McCallan (back in the panel but not match-fit) and Mattie McGleenan who played in the 1995 All-Ireland final and finally Brian McGuckin the county's top scorer in the recent NFL campaign.

Peter Canavan's replacement Gormley is one of three championship debutants on the team. He is a clubmate of Canavan's and starred in the same full forward line when Errigal Ciarain deposed reigning All-Ireland club champions Crossmaglen Rangers in the Ulster semi-final last November.

Also joining the team for inaugural championship duty are Colin Holmes, who was the regular centre back during the club campaign and Davitt McElroy who partners Jody Gormley at centerfield.

Elsewhere, the team has an experienced look with goalkeeper and captain Finbar McConnell, All-Ireland full back Chris Lawn (named at wing back) and corner back Paul Devlin were all on the Ulster team which regained the Railway Cup last February.

Fergal Logan, centrefielder in the All-Ireland final of '95 and later centre back, is now named at full back with the experienced Fay Devlin beside him. Adrian Cush is named on the 40 with Gerard Cavlan, a recent occupant of the position lining out at corner forward.

Substitutes will be named later in the week.

Last year's match between the counties was staged in Clones because Down don't have a venue big enough to take the fixture. As it was technically a home tie for Down, Tyrone pressed for the replay to be held in Omagh. This was turned down by the Ulster Council but Omagh's request for this year's match was granted.

According to Down selector John Murphy, the decision wasn't unexpected. "We weren't surprised. Tyrone made a strong case to play the replay there last year and we knew they'd make an equally strong or stronger case this time. They've invested heavily in the Omagh pitch and it was going to be used for a big game at some stage. It doesn't matter to Down. We were going to have to travel anyway."

He dismisses the suggestion that Peter Canavan's loss to opponents Tyrone is a significant plus for Down. "Canavan on the field poses a major threat but to compensate for his loss Tyrone will fight even harder. They'll still take to the field with 15 men. If Down win, it will be said `you wouldn't have beaten them with Peter Canavan'. We're in a no-win situation from that point of view."

He accepts that this year's Ulster championship is lower-key than usual but believes the eventual winners will stand as good a chance as their illustrious predecessors earlier this decade.

"There's no outstanding favourite in Ulster. Derry are probably favourites but not hot. They're on a side of the draw with a lot of other teams with aspirations: Armagh, Tyrone, ourselves. Any team that does emerge will be a strong contender."

Meanwhile, Cork's manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy is looking forward to having a full hand to pick from when the team for Sunday's NHL final is selected. There had been concerns about goalkeeper Ger Cunningham and centre back Brian Corcoran who picked up knocks over the weekend but both are nearly certain to start in what's likely to be an unchanged line-up from that which overwhelmed All-Ireland champions Clare in the semi-final.

"We expect both of them to be fit," said Barry-Murphy. "Brian Corcoran damaged his achilles tendon playing football for his club. He got a kick in the leg. Ger has a slight hamstring pull.

"He's not been troubled with that before and I'm confident he'll pull through. There's not the same strain as on an outfield player but Ger is a perfectionist and won't play unless he's completely right."

Sunday's tilt with Waterford in Thurles will be Cork hurling's first final day outing since the same event five years ago when it took the county three matches to dispose of the challenge of Wexford. With the Cork public notoriously hard to impress, has the impending final raised any buzz in the county?

"Well, last week it was all about Cork City in the cup final but now that things have settled down, I think people are getting excited about us," said Barry-Murphy.

For their part, Waterford are likely to welcome back Dave Bennett who is again available after missing the semi-final victory over Limerick with injury.