GAA:WICKLOW WILL be waiting anxiously on the fitness of midfielder James Stafford, who's receiving intensive treatment for an ankle injury with just a day to go to the qualifier replay against Armagh in Aughrim tomorrow evening.
Stafford, who gave a towering performance in the drawn match last weekend, injured his ankle at training on Wednesday night. Despite some pessimistic speculation about the chances of recovery, selector Martin Coleman remains optimistic that the Rathnew player will pull through despite being up against the clock.
“He turned on his ankle at training but we expect he’ll be ok. He’s getting treatment and we’re hopeful,” he said.
The match is officially a sell-out with the capacity set at 6,000 for what is the latest in a sequence of matches that might be Wicklow manager Mick O’Dwyer’s last stand. The Kerry football guru has stated that this will be his final season with the county but so far that season has refused to conclude.
Kildare, who defeated Wicklow in the Leinster first round, make one change for tomorrow’s Round Three qualifier with Meath. Emmet Bolton has recovered from the hamstring injury that kept him out of the win over Laois and he replaces Ollie Lyons at wing back.
Ulster finalists Derry and Donegal play their cards close to their chest in advance of Sunday’s Ulster final with neither willing to release their teams.
Derry have the biggest injury story of the weekend with Eoin Bradley, star of the semi-final win against Armagh, joining his brother Paddy in cruciate rehab. The big UUJ Sigerson player Cailean O’Boyle from Lavey was the first forward replacement introduced in the semi-final but Emmet McGuckin and Ciarán McGoldrick are also in contention.
At the back Ciaran Mullan is likely to start instead of Brian McAlary, who he replaced against Armagh whereas Gerard O’Kane will probably start on the bench after recovering from a blood clot in the thigh that kept him out of the semi-final.
Meanwhile speculation in Donegal is that all three of the players who were identified by manager Jimmy McGuinness as doubtful for the weekend will be named to play in what will be Donegal’s first provincial final in five years.
Midfielders Rory Kavanagh and Kevin Rafferty were considered at risk after picking up ankle and groin injuries respectively and Anthony Thompson also sustained a knock when playing for his club in a round of fixtures that McGuinness had asked to be postponed.
Elsewhere, there are concerns in Tyrone that triple All-Ireland winner Owen Mulligan has left the panel before their All-Ireland qualifier clash with either Armagh or Wicklow, due to be played next week. The Father Rocks clubman didn’t train with the county last night and hasn’t been seen since Tyrone’s qualifier win over Longford last weekend. He is believed to have become disillusioned with his lack of starting opportunities in the championship.
He played in all of the county’s league games apart from the opening round defeat away to Derry but so far this summer he has struggled to nail down a regular starting position.
Elsewhere the GAA yesterday announced that the weekend qualifiers involving Meath v Kildare at Páirc Tailteann, Navan will be an all-ticket match. Tickets can be purchased from www.gaa.ie as well as local outlets.
Croke Park also confirmed television arrangements for the GAA hurling quarter-finals in Thurles on Sunday week. The 2pm meeting of Dublin and Limerick will be screened by TV3 and the 4pm clash of Galway and Waterford will be televised by RTÉ.
KILDARE(SFC v Meath): S Connolly; A MacLochlainn, M Foley, H McGrillen; E Bolton, M O'Flaherty, G White; J Doyle, H Lynch; P O'Neill, E O'Flaherty, E Callaghan; F Dowling, T O'Connor, R Kelly. WATERFORD (SFC v Limerick): K Cotter; M O'Gorman, T O'Gorman, K Connery; T Grey, C Phelan, W Hennessey; B Wall, M Ahearne; P Whyte, S Dempsey, C O'Keeffe; S Fleming, G Hurney, P Hurney.
