Daly to be on hand to steady his forwards

IN A team packed with championship debutants, Galway player manager Vat Daly will lend his experience to the side when he lines out at centre forward for next Sunday's Connacht first round clash with Mayo in Tuam.

Sixteen years after his senior debut, and with the backing of fellow selectors TJ Gilmore and Gerry Fahy Daly leads an inexperienced Galway attack.

Galway's attacking debutants, brothers Mick and John Donnellan and Tom Carton, stand to benefit most from the Mountbellew man's close proximity.

The 34 year old Gatway veteran played against Down in a rare Division Three league appearance. Daly scored two points on that February afternoon and helped Galway earn an encouraging draw.

On Sunday, he will be surrounded by players new to the championship. And not only in the forwards. Teenage corner back, Moss Meehan, one of five new callups, was a three year old when Daly started out on his senior championship career.

TJ Gilmore, who was on that same team in 1981, says Galway will not be inhibited by Mayo's heroics in last year's All Ireland series. He accepts Mayo gave some high level performances in last year's championship and will be a more mature side as a result. He also contends it was a title Mayo lost rather than one Meath won.

Would Mayo have a psychological edge this time as a result of their newfound status?

"None whatsoever," says Gilmore. "We are going out to play Mayo exactly the same as we always do. That's exactly our approach for this game, as it always has been whenever we met in the past.

Indeed, the chances are that, despite utterances from Mayo manager John Maughan, the psychological advantage lies with Galway. After all, Mayo have failed to beat Galway in a championship match at Tuam in 46 years.

This remarkable statistic does not bother Maughan, however. "Records don't bother me, performances do," he says.

Martin McNamara takes over from Pat Comer in the Galway goal while Frank McWalter gets a recall after a number of years. His presence in the left corner of defence, behind wing back Tomas Mannion, lends valuable experience to the left flank cover. Sean O Domhnall comes in to partner another experienced operator, Damien Mitchell, in midfield.

In Ulster, Down manager Pete McGrath is encouraged to see James McCartan showing no ill effects of his shoulder injury after coming from the bench in Sunday's drawn Ulster championship clash with Tyrone. "Probably a lesser player would not have played in the game. James worked very hard on his shoulder injury, taking a lot of treatment for it."

McCartan and Aidan Farrell had been ruled out through injury for Sunday's game but, when called upon, they both responded well. To have both players fully fit would be a bonus for McGrath, who now has to plan without the suspended Peter Withnell.

McGrath says he learned nothing of any major significance from Sunday's match. He will name his team tomorrow for the replay.

"We learned bits and pieces and maybe little bits and pieces we saw were unexpected. We have a couple of days to digest what did happen and will try and pick out the good and remedy the bad," he said.

Meanwhile, Offaly have retained the team that easily dismissed Longford in the preliminary round for next Sunday's Leinster senior football championship clash against Westmeath.