Weather continues to play havoc with GAA fixtures and today's Colours football match between UCD and Trinity will be subject to a pitch inspection this morning. If the scheduled venue, TCD's College Park, is unplayable, the men's and women's football matches will be transferred to Belfield. The choice of venue is relevant to team selections as College Park is a rugby pitch and TCD have a special dispensation to stage 13-a-side matches when they biennially play host.
Although Trinity, the organisers, are extremely anxious that the matches go ahead today, there is a strong possibility that if one pitch fails an inspection, they all will.
It will be a pity if the match is unable to go ahead as the teams look better balanced this year than in the recent past. UCD have shed a number of the team that won the Sigerson Cup in 1996, most notably Trevor Giles who was so integral to the club's recent rise.
Ciaran McManus, who gained national prominence in Offaly's championship run this year, has indicated that he is unable to give UCD the appropriate commitment this year and with the Sigerson panel closing on December 8th, McManus looks unlikely to figure in next year's campaign.
Seamus Rodgers has taken over as manager of the team, but his predecessor John Reilly remains as a selector and, together with Tom O'Sullivan, the same management team is preserved. Mayo's David Nestor captains the club this year.
UCD football club has also announced three new scholarships. The recipients are Niall Collins, who played on Laois's All-Ireland winning minor team in 1996, Nestor, who featured in the All-Ireland finals of the last two years against Meath and Kerry, and Derek Savage, currently playing for the Galway seniors but who will be rested from today's line-up after sustaining a couple of knocks in recent inter-county matches.
Trinity have only one scholarship student, Laois senior Ian Fitzgerald, now in his third year. TCD Development Officer Josephine Rogers says that the club is hoping to organise a graduates' association similar to UCD's to assist in fund-raising and the provision of more scholarships.
The women's football match is also scheduled for College Park, while in the Trinity grounds at Santry, the hurling and camogie matches will take place with trophies donated by The Irish Times at stake.
UCD (from) - John Leonard (Dublin); Jim Bonnar (Donegal), Barry O'Donovan (Wicklow), Brendan O'Hanaigh (Wicklow); Niall Collins (Laois), Peadar Andrews (Dublin), Ian Clarke (Dublin); Dara Max- well (Dublin), David Hannify (Longford); David Nestor (Mayo, captain), Joe Flynn (Kildare), John Lynch (Kerry); Eanna O'Malley (Kerry), Stephen Dillon (Meath), Mick O'Keeffe (Dublin).
TCD (from) - Gareth Phelim (Leitrim), Stephen Walls (Dublin), Eoin Gillhooly (Waterford), Michael Morgan (Down), Kevin Morgan (Down), Seamus Meehan (Galway), Fintan Garavan (Westmeath), Joe Cullen (Cavan), John Meeney (Tipperary), Conor McCarthy (Tipperary), Anthony McGuire (Louth, captain), Dave Hegarty (Meath), Morgan Drea (Carlow), John Teahan (Kerry), Arthur Canlan (Dublin), Dave Madden (Dublin), Andy Walshe (Meath), David Hughes (Westmeath), Cathal Collins (Cavan), Maurice Harty (Kerry), Ian Fitzgerald (Laois), Ronan O'Reilly (Cavan), Dave McConville (Down), Dave Fagan (Cavan), Gareth Shields (Down), Donal Berry (Wexford), Ciaran Daignean (Leitrim), Stephen Carraig (Kerry), JC Farrell (Meath), Paul Kieran (Meath), Barry Quinn (Tyrone), Eddie O'Reilly (Tyrone), Phelim Leneghan (Down), Tigh O'Reilly (Kerry), Kieran O'Donnell (Kerry), Tom Canning (Sligo), Ronan Byrne (Dublin).
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