Council discuss fixture pile-up

The Leinster Council meet this morning to consider the looming complications to the football championship fixtures list now that Louth and Wicklow must play for a third time, a match that takes the place of the scheduled quarter-final between Wexford and the winners of the second replay.

"We're just concerned about what to do with the next match after that," according to provincial secretary Michael Delaney. "The meeting may be of the view that it would be unfair to ask whoever wins to play four weeks running."

The situation is an echo of last year when the long-running saga between Offaly and Kildare - played out in the committee rooms rather than on the field - pushed back the football semi-finals to the extent that the second of them had to be played on a double bill with the Leinster hurling final.

Twelve months ago it was Wexford who had to wait for Offaly's right to contest the semi-final to be finally confirmed and once more Paul Bealin's team have to drum their fingers while Wicklow and Louth sort out the longest running saga in the province since Meath and Kildare went to three matches in their 1997 semi-final before Meath won.

According to Delaney the tickets allocated to Wexford for this weekend hadn't yet been distributed and so they can be recalled and diverted to the other counties.

The double bill is likely to be a sell-out, as Dublin are still looking for more tickets with all allocations distributed and returns yet to be processed.

Asked was he expecting a full house, Delaney said: "It's looking that way".

Meanwhile, Dublin manager Paul Caffrey says he is eagerly awaiting his team's championship debut against familiar opponents. "Dublin-Meath is something we all grew up with and something everyone's looking forward to."

This will be the first meeting between the counties since the end of the Seán Boylan era during which they met 20 times in 23 years, most recently in 2005, Boylan's last year and Caffrey's first when two late Mark Vaughan frees were needed to secure victory for Dublin whose last defeat by their neighbours was in the 2001 Leinster final.

Dublin have a few injuries according to Caffrey: "Kevin Bonner (leg injury) won't make it and neither will Jayo (Jason Sherlock has a broken thumb). Niall O'Shea's out as well because he went over on his ankle in a club match and is on crutches."

Asked whether he prefers a lower-key start to the summer to a full house at Croke Park attended by all of the usual hype, the Dublin manager is equivocal. "It's hard to know. A couple of years ago Longford came to Croke Park and we beat them by 19 points but learned nothing. Last year we went down there, had a ferocious battle and nearly lost. This year it's the old enemy and the supporters love that and the players do too."

Galway football manager Peter Ford has received a boost with corner forward Seán Armstrong back in contention for a place in the side to face Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final. Armstrong missed the first-round win over Mayo with a hamstring injury which had sidelined him for several weeks. But Armstrong made a successful return to action on Sunday when he featured as a substitute in Salthill-Knockncarra's 2-14 to 0-11 Galway football championship win over Barna.