Moran hands Bradley a starting spot

Eoin Bradley, brother of captain Paddy, and a highly regarded forward in his own right, makes his championship debut in Sunday…

Eoin Bradley, brother of captain Paddy, and a highly regarded forward in his own right, makes his championship debut in Sunday's Ulster semi-final against Armagh at Casement Park. He is named at left wing forward.

Bradley is one of two possible changes Derry make to the side that defeated Monaghan in the first round.Paul Bradley - who suffered a serious knee injury - is unavailable and a vacancy is left in his place at right corner forward.

The options open to manager Mickey Moran are to bring back Johnny McBride, who started the Monaghan match, or the versatile Paul McFlynn, who has played all around the field for Derry, and switch Eoin Bradley to the vacancy with whoever's chosen lining out on the wing.

Meanwhile, Brian McGuigan and Brian Dooher return to Tyrone's starting line-up for Saturday's Ulster semi-final replay against Cavan. Both players came on as replacements in the drawn game and helped the team turn the tide in their favour.

READ MORE

Captain Dooher had been struggling with an ankle injury, whereas McGuigan is still regaining match fitness following a four-month spell in Australia. McGuigan and Dooher have been drafted into the half forward line with Peter Canavan moving from centre forward to the corner.

The players to lose out are Owen Mulligan and Brendan Donnelly. Goalkeeper Pascal McConnell, who suffered bruising to the sternum following a clash with Jason O'Reilly during last weekend's draw, has recovered and takes his place between the posts. The defence and centrefield are unchanged, with Conor Gormley named again as Seán Cavanagh's partner.

For the first-round qualifier trip to Wicklow, Donegal manager Brian McEniff has gone with the same starting 15 that faced Armagh in last week's Ulster championship replay. This means Adrian Sweeney, who had his red-card dismissal rescinded by the CDC yesterday, is eligible to line out at full forward.

Opponents Wicklow make one enforced change. Dara Ó hAnnaidh failed a fitness test last night and his place at centre back goes to Wesley Callaghan.

Meanwhile, the GPA and RTÉ had their second meeting yesterday to try and solve the current refusal of players to do television interviews without the option of displaying a drinks company logo. The result of the meeting is expected later today.

The Cork county board are investigating complaints about the bucket seating in Pairc Ui Chaoimh for the second time this year. The first problem arose after the league match between Cork and Kilkenny. Spectators in the uncovered stand complained about the lack of leg space in front of the new seats.

The issue was addressed by cutting the tops off the seats. The problem now appears to be some of the plastic seats have sharp edges where they have been cut.

TYRONE (SF v Cavan):P McConnell; R McMenamin, C Lawn, S Sweeney; D Harte, G Devlin, P Jordan; C Gormley, S Cavanagh; B Dooher, B McGuigan, M Penrose; P Canavan, S O'Neill, E McGinley.

DERRY (SF v Armagh):B Gillis; G McGuckian, K McCloy, G O'Kane; P Wilson, SM Lockhart, P Kelly; F Doherty, Patsy Bradley; P Murphy, M Lynch, E Bradley; AN Other, Paddy Bradley (capt.), E Muldoon.

DONEGAL (v Wicklow):M Boyle; N McCready, E McGee, K Lacey; S Carr, B Monaghan, D Diver; B Boyle, N Gallagher; C Toye, M Hegarty, B Roper; C McFadden, A Sweeney, B Devenney.

WICKLOW (v Donegal):R Hollingworth; C Hyland, B Daly, T Burke; K Manning, W Callaghan, B Ó hAnnaidh; D Dillon, J Stafford; D Smullen, L Glynn, T Harney; P Earls, W O'Gorman, A Ellis.

Seán Moran

Seán Moran

Seán Moran is GAA Correspondent of The Irish Times