Injuries force Ford to rethink

No team expects to be at full strength for the start of the Allianz Football League but Galway appear to be at empty strength. Manager Peter Ford has a lengthy list of absentees for Sunday's trip to Derry, one of the most difficult teams to play away at the best of times.

Joe Bergin, Paul Clancy and Barry Cullinane have all been ruled out with knee injuries, joining other injury casualties Matthew Clancy, Declan Meehan, John Devane and Damien Dunleavy.

Galway champions Salthill-Knocknacarra are preparing for their club semi-final, which means Ford is also without Finian Hanley, Michael Donnellan and Seán Armstrong. Tomás Meehan and SeáÓg de Paor have joined Kevin Walsh in retirement, and on top of all that team captain Pádraig Joyce is suspended.

"We are missing an awful lot of players," said Ford, "and will be for the first couple of league games anyway. I think we're without 12 or 13 first-choice players. It's a bit of a problem alright, but as long as we don't have this problem in the summer I'm not too worried.

"We've just had to bring in a lot of new lads, most of which we've already tried out in the FBD League. Some of them were filling gaps because we didn't have the students there either but obviously we'll be playing quite a few of them now."

Ford will be giving starting places to some newcomers, including Diarmuid Blake at centre back, and Alan O'Donovan from Corofin, but he won't finalise his team until Friday.

"I just didn't think I'd have this many injury problems. So going up to play Derry is not going to be easy. Even if we had our full panel it would be hard to win up there. It always is."

Galway are at home to Laois on Sunday week before the league takes its three-week break, and at least Ford knows things can only get better: "Hopefully when the Salthill lads come back and the injuries clear up we'll be strong again. But for now we'll just have to pick something up along the way.

"But you just don't know. Some of these new faces might play great. But there's no easy game in the league anymore. We're also away to Armagh, and Down - so that's three of the northern teams away."

There are five league debuts in the Dublin team to face Tyrone in Omagh: goalkeeper Paul Copeland, defender Niall O'Shea, midfielder Denis Bastick, and forwards Derek Murray and Kevin Bonner.

Monaghan manager Séamus McEnaney, meanwhile, has named two debuts for Sunday's opening game against Fermanagh, selecting Paul McGuigan at corner back and Shane Smyth at corner forward.

Elsewhere, GAA president Seán Kelly yesterday launched the latest edition of The Complete Handbook of Gaelic Games - also known as the bible of GAA records. It provides a comprehensive statistical record of GAA activity at national level since the inauguration of the All-Ireland championships in 1887.

DUBLIN (SF v Tyrone): P Copeland; N O'Shea, B Cahill, D Henry; P Casey, P Andrews, C Goggins; C Whelan, D Bastick; D Murray, B Cullen, T Quinn; D O'Callaghan, K Bonner, A Brogan. Subs: J Leonard, S Ryan, D Lally, B Brogan, J Sherlock, G O'Meara, D Lally, M Fitzpatrick, G Norton.

MONAGHAN (SF v Fermanagh): S Duffy; P McGuigan, C Flanagan, D Morgan; D Freeman, V Corey, D McArdle; E Lennon, D Clerkin; S Gollogly, P Finlay, S McManus; T Freeman, R Woods, S Smyth.