Neither Cavan nor Fermanagh will approach their Ulster championship match in Breffni Park on Sunday with any degree of overconfidence. Both sides have serious problems in regard to fitness, stemming from the fact that club commitments have been clashing with county demands. Injuries are also being picked up in training.
Fermanagh seem to be particularly vulnerable. Although they have named a team for Sunday's clash they will not be certain of their starting line-up until just before the throw-in. Of particular worry is the fact that Paddy McGuinness may not be available to the defence because of a groin strain. He is, however, named in the official line-up.
Definitely out of the fray are Mark Gallagher and Barry King. Both have hamstring injuries while Niall Rooney is also ruled out with a cartilage problem which arose from an incident in a club match.
Cavan, for their part, have four newcomers to championship football. Among them is Pierce McKenna from the Kill club, who is selected at midfield in partnership with Dermot McCabe while Cathal Collins from the Cavan Gaels club is drafted in at centre forward.
One of the most enduring players of recent times, Ronan Carolan, is in top form and will play at left half forward while the full-forward line will have the formidable trio of Jason Reilly, Mark Leddy and Fintan Cahill.
The match at Breffni Park is being billed as an all-ticket one with an upper limit of 18,500. Those familiar with Breffni Park will be aware that another six or seven thousand people could easily be accommodated on the terracing around the ground and an attendance of some 25,000 could easily be coped with.
Telefis na Gaeilge has announced a new programme of football and hurling for the summer, which is to be called GAA Gold '97. It will feature matches in both codes which took place last year.
The new programme will include the Clare v Cork and Kilkenny v Wexford matches in hurling; Cavan v Derry in football and the All-Ireland finals in both hurling and football. The All-Ireland under-21 hurling final between Galway and Cork will also feature, with the final match in the series being the All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Mayo on the evening of September 22nd.
The National Hurling League, Division Two semi-final between Kerry and Down, which was fixed for Portlaoise on Saturday, has been postponed. It is understood that both counties were unwilling to play the match because of domestic club commitments. No alternative date has been set. The Division One play-off match between Antrim and Kilkenny has also still to be played, suggesting that the experiment of playing the league in one calendar year is encountering difficulties.
Cavan (SF v Fermanagh): P O'Dowd; G Sheridan, T Farrelly, P Murphy; A Forde, B Morris, P Shiels; D McCabe, P McKenna; L Reilly, C Collins, R Carolan; J Reilly, M Leddy, F Cahill.
Fermanagh (SF): C McAdam; P McGuinness, S Breen, M Lilly; T Callaghan, T Collins, R Johnson; P Brewster, C Courtney; K Donnelly, C Curran, J Hanna; Raymond Gallagher, Rory Gallagher, S King.
