Cloonan back to bolster Galway 3rd column

Eugene Cloonan is back in the Galway team for Sunday's All-Ireland hurling quarter-final meeting with Tipperary at Croke Park. The talented Athenry forward missed the final stages of Galway's victorious league campaign after being banned for three months by his own county board following a red card incident in an under-21 club match last April.

There were doubts about whether or not Cloonan would regain his place for Galway's first championship outing of the summer, but manager Mattie Murphy has obviously lost no confidence in his ability. He was a consistent performer in helping Galway reach the latter stages of the league and although he missed both the semi-final and final, his value to this Galway team is undiminished.

Cloonan's re-introduction is the only change from the Galway team that defeated Tipperary by five points in the league final. The man to lose out is under-21 dual player David Tierney, who was called up at wing forward for the league final to replace the injured Kevin Broderick. Despite having a fine match, and earning the commendation of Murphy for his stamina and application, Tierney is forced to make way for his young counterpart.

As a result, Ollie Canning moves back from the right corner, where he started the last day, to left half forward. Cloonan will wear the number 13 shirt and Ollie Fahy and Fergal Healy maintain their places in the full forward line.

The Galway team also shows fours changes from their last championship outing - last summer's quarter-final replay loss to Clare. Gone are centre back Nigel Shaughnessy, midfield pairing Joe Cooney and Fergus Flynn.

Broderick, the other man absent, has been a regular feature of Galway's championship attack in recent years. The calf injury which forced him to miss the league final was not deemed serious, but with so much forward talent in this Galway squad, he has found it hard to regain his place.

For opponents Tipperary, Micheal Ryan will make his first championship start after being named at midfield. His introduction is the sole change from the team which fell to Cork in the Munster final earlier this month.

As a result, captain as Tommy Dunne - who started at midfield against Cork - will move into corner forward with Paddy O'Brien the man to lose out. Ryan appeared as a substitute against both Cork and Clare.

Against Clare, he came into the half forwards for Liam Cahill, who had previously replaced Paddy O'Brien. And in the Cork clash, Ryan appeared midway through the second half for Mark O'Leary at wing forward, but finished the game at centrefield as both Dunne and Leahy had been moved to the attack.

Ryan has also played at both centre back and centre forward for his club, Templederry. He played at midfield in the All-Ireland winning minor side of 1996, when he was responsible for scoring the equalising point, also against Galway, that forced the replay.

While Galway have made just one change from the league final, the Tipperary team shows four changes from that meeting. As well as the injured Declan Ryan, gone are Liam Sheedy, Gerry Maguire and O'Brien. It remains to be seen whether or not Ryan will have recovered from his ankle injury to take a place amongst the substitutes, which will be named after Tipperary's final training session this evening.

Amongst the more interesting clashes will be the duel between Cloonan and Tipperary corner back Michael Ryan. Ryan's lack of pace was exposed at stages by Cork's Seanie McGrath in the Munster final. Cloonan's more regular berth is in the left corner, and it will be another demanding task for the veteran Tipperary player.

Both Offaly and Derry will name their teams later today for the other quarter-final. Both counties are reported free from major injury worries, but the respective managers decided to wait another day before selecting their line-ups.