Mick O'Dwyer's position as Kildare manager will be considered when the county board meet next Monday. It is expected that there will be a strong consensus in favour of O'Dwyer continuing at the helm in the wake of Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Galway.

The Kerryman left Croke Park on Sunday in a hurry and, in the absence of any statement about his future, rumour flourished that he was about to pack in the job which he has now held for 10 years, including a two-year sabbatical.

His appointment with the county has been on a year-to-year basis and at the start of this season he told Kildare that he would take the job for another year and see how it went.

There is no doubting the positive response within the county after a championship that saw them win the Leinster title for the second time in three years.

"We'll be meeting tomorrow night week," said Kildare PRO Syl Merrins, "but I don't know at the moment what his plans are. Andrew O'Sullivan (county chairman) was talking to him and he said he'd think about it and come back to us in the next few days. It's down to himself after all he's done for us down the years. He's given the whole county a lift." When O'Dwyer took over the Kildare team 10 years ago, the county had just emerged from the third division of the NFL and had lost a championship match to Wicklow for the first time. Galway go into the final with no apparent injury concerns according to manager John O'Mahony. "Padraig Joyce hurt himself in the incident with Ronan Quinn and Michael Donnellan picked up a few knocks but there won't be any clear indication of how serious anyone is until we get together on Wednesday evening," he said.

Meanwhile, ahead of Saturday's semi-final replay, Kerry are more bothered with injuries than Armagh, who will have Diarmuid Marsden available after his appearance as a substitute in the drawn match. He will be in contention for a starting place, as he was a fortnight ago when managers Brian Canavan and Brian McAlinden opted to start him on the bench.

Marsden made a lively impact after he was introduced early in the second half. He set up the equalising goal for Andrew McCann but had a clear goal chance saved by Declan O'Keeffe. Kerry's celebrity substitute Maurice Fitzgerald was even more influential, scoring a goal and kicking the equalising free in injury-time, but his fitness is less assured.

Having apparently survived a bruised toe, Fitzgerald is now said to be struggling with damaged ankle ligaments and is likely to start on the bench.

With the Limerick under-21 hurlers in the All-Ireland final against Galway on September 17th, the county board has had to defer for three weeks the county final scheduled for the same date. The semi-finals between Patrickswell and Ahane and Doon and Garryspillane will be played next Sunday. The football final will now take place on October 1st.