Hayes to blood five in league for Galway

TEAM NEWS: New Galway manager Conor Hayes won't be wasting any time in trying out the county's new hurling talent. Five players will make senior league debuts in Sunday's opener against Dublin at Pearse Stadium, while midfielder Gordon Glynn, who briefly played senior hurling with Dublin and the Naomh Mearnog club, has been recalled.

The five making league debuts are goalkeeper Damien Howe, defenders Andrew Coen, Tony Óg Regan and Aidan O'Donnell and corner forward Kenneth Burke, who has already displayed his considerable talents with the Galway minor team.

Hayes has not included any of the Athenry team that last Sunday lost heavily to Birr in the All-Ireland club semi-final. Eugene Cloonan was ruled out anyway through suspension, while it remains to be seen if players like Joe Rabbitte, Paul Hardiman and Brian Feeney will figure in Hayes's plans.

Much of the Galway attack, however, is still familiar. Rory Gantley, Cathal Moore and Kevin Broderick make up the half forward line, while Ollie Fahey and Fergal Healy join Burke in the full forward line.

Opponents Dublin have left a vacancy at full forward, with Keith Horgan, who started in the position for the memorable Walsh Cup win over Kilkenny, the most likely candidate. Horgan is still troubled with a knee injury sustained during that game, but manager Marty Morris is still hopeful that he'll be fit to start.

Liam Ryan, previously doubtful because of a thumb injury, was passed fit to line out at centre back. Stephen Perkins also retains his place at midfield at the expense of Kevin Ryan, while former captain David Sweeney, who has returned to the panel after a winter break, is likely to feature among the substitutes.

Clare manager Cyril Lyons has called up new goalkeeper Ger O'Connell, defenders Ronan O'Looney, Conor Harrison, Conor Plunkett, Diarmuid McMahon and Ger O'Grady, along with midfielder Dave Scanlon for Saturday's meeting with Laois in Ennis.

In football, Errigal Ciarán captain Eoin Gormley returns to the starting line-up for Sunday's All-Ireland club championship semi-final against Nemo Rangers at Portlaoise. Gormley, fully recovered from a hamstring injury, comes in at left half forward, with Aidan McGinley the player to drop down to the bench.

Otherwise the team is unchanged from that which defeated Enniskillen by 0-8 to 1-3 in the Ulster final. Pascal Canavan, who suffered a broken jaw in the win over Enniskillen, is able to take his place at midfield, while Adrian O'Donnell is still suspended.

On the intercounty scene, there is good news for Galway footballers - Ja Fallon is back training with the panel and is in line for selection in next weekend's league meeting with Cork.

Fallon's return coincides with that of Padraic Joyce, who was previously suspended, and Declan Meehan, who had been on a winter break in Australia.

The timing for manager John O'Mahony couldn't have been better, with Joe Bergin set to miss several weeks of action with a broken finger. Neither Kevin Walsh nor Tomás Mannion, however, has yet to indicate their intentions for the coming weeks.

Antrim football manager PJ O'Hare will be without Gearoid Adams for the coming weeks at least. Adams, a son of Sinn Fein president Gerry, has quit the panel after being dropped for last Sunday's game against Westmeath.

ERRIGAL CIARAN (SF v Nemo Rangers): J Devine; B O'Donnell, C McGinley, D Neill; Emmet McGinley, P Horisk, D Harte; Pascal Canavan, P Loughran; Enda McGinley, M Harte, E Gormley; R O'Donnell, Peter Canavan, D Tierney.

GALWAY (SH v Dublin): D Howe; A Coen, L Hodgins, O Canning; T Regan, P Huban, A O'Donnell; A Kerins, G Glynn; R Gantley, C Moore, K Broderick; K Burke, O Fahey, F Healy.

DUBLIN (SH v Galway): B McLoughlin; K Elliott, D Spain, C Meehan; K Wilson, L Ryan, S Hiney; C Keaney, S Perkins; S McDonnell, K O'Donoghue, T Moore; S Martin, AN Other, K Flynn.

CLARE (SH v Laois): G O'Connell; D Hoey, R O'Looney, C Harrison; C Plunkett, D McMahon, G O'Grady; J Reddan, D Scanlon; T Griffin, T Carmody, A Markham; N Gilligan, B Murphy, D O'Connell.