Canty and Murphy wait in the wings

GAELIC GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 NEWS:CONOR COUNIHAN may yet spring a surprise ahead of Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final as the Cork footballers return to the scene of last year's humiliating September defeat to old rivals Kerry.

Team captain Graham Canty and veteran midfielder Nicholas Murphy failed to make the cut after training last night but may yet be parachuted into the team providing they come through late fitness tests.

Neither man featured in the All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Kildare on August 10th due to Canty sustaining a medial knee ligament problem and Murphy a hamstring strain. They did, however, resume training last Sunday.

Should they fail to recover for the second meeting with Kerry this season then players like Anthony Lynch will be expected to carry the leadership burden in the absence of such influential players. Speaking yesterday, Lynch didn't seem too optimistic about their return. "Graham and Nicholas are big players for us. What can you do, just roll on and take it from training session to training session to see how they are. Obviously they'll be a big loss if they are out but hopefully theyll be okay, but I suppose it isn't looking great at the moment."

That means Counihan has gone with the team that started the less than convincing 2-11 to 1-11 defeat of Kildare with two particular positives being the inclusion of James Masters at centre forward and Michael Cussen at full forward.

Alan O'Connor and Pearse O'Neill make up the midfield while Derek Kavanagh will be charged with covering Kieran Donaghy. Another defensive option in reserve is Michael Shields who recently returned from a short sojourn in Australia with the Carlton Blues.

Kerry are expected to select tonight with Daniel Bohane a major concern because of a back spasm. The young defender looked like a viable solution to the side's ongoing full-back problem when coming on against Galway.

CORK (SF v Kerry):A Quirke; D Duggan, D Kavanagh, A Lynch; B O'Regan, G Spillane, K O'Connor; A O'Connor, P O'Neill; D O'Connor, J Masters, S O'Brien; D Goulding, M Cussen, J Hayes.

KERRY (MF v Mayo):B Kelly; P Reidy, B Shanahan, F Fitzgerald; P Crowkey, J Lyne, M Hickey; J O'Sullivan, W Guthrie; M Tim, D Casey, C O'Shea; BJ Keane, BJ Walsh, C Tobin.