Championship Previews

Today - Munster SHC First round:

Tipperary v Kerry Semple Stadium, Thurles, 7.00

Both teams had a satisfactory result in last week's NHL fixtures. Tipperary won the title and Kerry stayed in Division One after a comprehensive win against Down. Realistically there's not much hope for Kerry, although last year they caught Waterford just after their league final and stayed at the races for an hour. They also have had a season in Division One which manager PJ O'Grady believes has left them a better team.

Team News: Tipperary have made the obvious change from last week, leaving Conal Bonnar at wing back after his superior performance when introduced on to Kevin Broderick last week. Kerry are short Conor and Maurice Harty, the former doing exams and the latter out long term with a virus. Two other significant performers from last year's championship, Richard Gentleman and Conor Flaherty, have emigrated.

Key Confrontation: Whereas there is no positional battle which has the power to decide this match, Tipperary will be looking to see how Paul Shelly's continuing trial at full forward progresses against Kerry's inspirational Seamus McIntyre.

Although troubled by an injury picked up last week, the full back is a major influence on the team. Of parallel interest will be Tipp's full back Fergal Heaney's display on JJ Canty. Further signs of fallibility from Heaney will inevitably promote the prospect of Shelly reverting to the full-back line.

View From The Camps

"Kerry have to be beaten before we get to Clare. Play badly against Kerry and can lose out for Clare."

- Brendan Cummins (Tipp 'keeper).

"We've nothing to lose but we don't want to put in a bad performance. Morale is good. It was so high on Monday night that I wanted to play Tipp on Tuseday."

- PJ O'Grady (Kerry manager).

Verdict: Tipperary.

Team Selections

Tipperary: B Cummins; D Fahy, F Heaney, L Sheedy; C Bonnar, D Kennedy, E Corcoran; D Carr, E Enright; T Dunne, D Ryan, J Leahy; L Cahill, P Shelly, B O'Meara.

Kerry: J Healy; T Cronin, S McIntyre, I Brick; D Slattery, M McCarthy, WJ Leen; B O'Sullivan, Pat Cronin; Padraig Cronin, C Walsh, M Slattery; T Maunsell, JJ Canty, TP O'Connor.

Tomorrow - Munster SFC

First round: Kerry v Tipperary Stack Park, Tralee, 3.30

This re-run of last year's Munster final comes at a better time for Tipperary as Kerry's championship is only starting. The defending Munster champions also passed away the winter in the same division of the league as Tipp and so won't have benefited from a run of decent matches. Tipp promise to be more direct in their football whereas Kerry will hope to re-energise the team after last year's comparatively disappointing defence of the All-Ireland. Nine of the winning 1997 team start, with another three on the bench.

Team News: Kerry give debuts to four players, Michael McCarthy, John McGlynn, Noel Kennelly and Gearoid Murphy. Some surprise was expressed at the absence of Liam Flaherty from the centre back position, but he was unable to train with the panel for much of the league and is named on the bench. Tipperary have been hit by injuries which remove two experienced players. County hurling goalkeeper Brendan Cummins is unable to play football because of scar tissue on a serious leg injury while John Owens, who came out of retirement is also injured. Mark Sheahan has, however, recovered from what looked a bad hamstring pull.

Key Confrontation: Davy Hogan has been in impressive form for Tipperary. A creative centre forward, his reading of the game and perceptive distribution has prompted comparisons with Dublin's Dessie Farrell. His role is vital for the team as Declan Browne's huge reputation will have preceded him into the match and Kerry will feel that by throwing a net around the Tipp captain, they can snuff out their opponents' attacking options. If Hogan can help bring Browne into the match and avail of the options arising from Kerry's nervousness, it will greatly improve the team's attacking potential. In the absence of Flaherty, Seamus Moynihan pivots the defence. There is a sound enough argument that Moynihan was the best centre back in last year's championship on his occasional visits to the posting. Moynihan was used last year to defuse the threat of Browne and will need his wits about him to counter this latest threat.

View From The Camps

"There's always a pressure about any championship match. We've played Tipp over the last three years and they've been getting used to our game."

- Paidi O Se (Kerry manager).

"There's a difference between hanging on and being close because you're playing well. I think we'll play better than last year. If I could have had a time-out 10 minutes into the second half last year, a lot of things could have been sorted out."

- Colm Browne (Tipp manager).

Verdict: Kerry.

Team Selections

Kerry: D O'Keeffe; M McCarthy, B O'Shea, K Burns; T O Se, S Moynihan, E Breen; D O Se, D Daly; J McGlynn, N Kennelly, D O Cinneide; G Murphy, L Hassett, M Fitzgerald.

Tipperary: P Ryan; C O'Dwyer, N Kelly, L Cronin; B Hahessy, S Collum, D Byrne; D Foley, J Costelloe; S Maher, D Hogan, D Lyons; P Lambert, M Sheehan, D Browne.

Munster SFC First round: Waterford v Cork Fraher Field, Dungarvan, 3.30

Waterford again seem to be prioritising other things with the county continuing to improve at under-age level and plans afoot to improve their league standing and remain in training for the B AllIreland. This is a forbidding fixture against the recently crowned league winners, who despite injuries will be in good spirits.

Team News: Injuries force Cork into a couple of changes. Owen Sexton and Podsie O'Mahony picked up knocks which rule them out for tomorrow, although both are expected to be ready for any further championship involvement. The versatile Ronan McCarthy comes in for Sexton and Don Davis replaces O'Mahony. Bantry centre-fielder Damien O'Neill is selected at full forward in the one piece of experimentation in the lineup. Waterford have had to rearrange the team. Anthony Fitzgerald has failed a fitness test and is replaced by last year's minor Gary Hurney. Wing forward David Whelan's suspension was confirmed during the week, so Richie Power moves in to replace him and Alan Ahearne comes in at centrefield.

Key Confrontation: Damien O'Neill's novel positioning at full forward will be well tested by George Walsh, who was Waterford's best performer against Tipp in last year's championship and who has had a sound enough league.

View From The Camps

"There's no pressure on us. If they (Waterford players) perform to the same level they've been training at, they'll do themselves justice. I hope they do after the sacrifices that have been made, fellas coming off shift work to train and then going back to work after training."

- John Cummins (Waterford manager).

"This is a no-win situation. Beat them by 20 points and everyone says it was expected; beat them by three and it's a disaster."

- Paddy Sheahan (Cork selector).

Verdict: Cork.

Team Selections

Waterford: K Cotter; J Crotty, G Walsh, M Kiely; K Whelan, J Nurney, L Dalton; A Ahearne, W Kavanagh; R Power, C Keane, M O'Brien; G Hurney, M Power, M Downey.

Cork: K O'Dwyer; M O'Donovan, S O hAilpin, A Lynch; C O'Sullivan, R McCarthy, M Cronin; N Murphy, M O'Sullivan; A Dorgan, J Kavanagh, D Davis; P Clifford, D O'Neill, M O'Sullivan.