Four of the main contenders for this year's football championship took to the field yesterday for challenge matches in Tallaght and Castlebar.
The matches resulted in wins for Mayo, who beat Kildare 0-15 to 011, and Galway, who had six points to spare against Dublin (0-16 to 010). The Connacht pair face each other in the first round of their provincial championship in under three weeks. Their respective opponents yesterday, Kildare and Dublin, will also be facing each other but not until a fortnight later, on June 7th.
Of the four teams, Dublin was the only one not to have a reasonably strong selection available. County championship matches had taken their toll and about six likely championship starters were missing. Galway weren't at full strength either, with regulars such as Michael Donnellan, Robin Doyle, Gary Fahy and Niall Finnegan injured and the under-21 pair of Tomas Meehan and Derek Reilly suspended.
Perhaps the most significant team news of the day was the return of Kevin Cahill to Mayo's ranks from which he has been missing since last summer. The Ballaghadereen man came through without mishap and is a timely arrival for the county's championship challenge.
Another player whose return has been a great relief for his county is Galway's Jarlath Fallon, whose rugby commitments are nearly over for the season. Playing well at centre forward against Dublin, the Tuam player helped himself to three first-half points before being substituted late in the match as a result of blistered feet.
Mayo's forwards showed improved form with David Nestor outstanding and as their midfield was also impressive, things look to be on-track for the championship opener. Galway were the more impressive and cohesive unit at the Thomas Davis ground in Tallaght - the match was part of a programme of events to mark the official opening of the extended clubhouse by Tanaiste Mary Harney TD. Their forwards worked well together but frequently the finish didn't match the build-up. Nonetheless, the team pulled away in the final 10 minutes to win by six points.
"Every challenge has its purpose," was the enigmatic reaction of Galway manager John O'Mahony. "We scored 16 points but what was pleasing for me was that the team worked awful hard to close down the opposition."
Despite losing, Dublin's manager Tom Carr was upbeat. "Not bad considering the county championship had us so depleted. We were missing 12 or 13 between one thing and another. It had been our intention to put out a strong team but we ended up further and further from that prospect. Instead of a pre-championship run, we used the match to look at players."
The team's lengthy injury-list is easing, according to Carr. "Keith (Barr) is coming on well and should be back in another week; Declan (Darcy) will be back playing football in a week; Ian Robertson has an ankle injury but should be okay."
Meanwhile, the switching of the All-Ireland under-21 final from Sunday to Saturday this coming weekend hasn't been received enthusiastically in the competing counties of Laois and Kerry.
Kerry's under-21s have played none of their matches to date on a Sunday and Laois nearly pulled out of the match rather than play on Saturday. The date of the fixture was re-arranged to facilitate live televising of the final on RTE.
"There's a lot of people not too happy about it," says Laois PRO Jack Nolan. "The semi-final in Longford was at six o'clock on a Saturday evening which was also a long, awkward distance on a working day."
Originally the date was unfeasible for wing back Niall Collins who is on a sports scholarship at UCD and who has exams scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The college authorities have allowed him sit the paper in the morning and at midday he will head for Limerick.
"I doubt if Laois would have played the match if he hadn't been accommodated by UCD," says Nolan. "Leinster Council had to abandon plans to re-fix the Dublin-Kilkenny championship match for a Saturday to suit television because two of their players had exams. We wouldn't have played without him."
Tipperary have named an experienced line-out for Sunday's opening match against Limerick in the Bank of Ireland Munster senior football championship. Only Conor O'Shea at full forward is new to championship duty and half of the team have Munster final experience from four and five years ago when the county lost to Cork in successive provincial deciders.
Captain Brian Burke from Fethard is the most experienced, having played with the minor team which reached the Centenary year All-Ireland minor final in 1984.
Under the guidance of former Laois player and manager Colm Browne, a Garda instructor based in Templemore, Tipperary completed an escape from next year's Division Four by beating Clare in their last National League fixture.
Tipperary (SF v Limerick): P Ryan; N Kelly, C O'Dwyer, L Cronin; B Hahessy, M Sheahan, S Collum; D Foley, J Costello; S Maher, B Cummins, B Burke (capt.); P Lambert, C O'Shea, D Browne.
