Leinster catch up with Giles

Trevor Giles will finally get to play in a Leinster jersey. The Meath player, who missed out in previous years because of his commitment to UCD where he was on a sporting scholarship, has been drafted into the Leinster team for the Railway Cup interprovincial football final against Ulster at Clones on Sunday.

"Given his stature, it's strange to think that this will be his first Railway Cup game," said Leinster manager Mattie Kerrigan. Until now, however, Giles - whose selection forces the only change from the side that beat Munster in the semi-final - has been virtually out-of-bounds to the Leinster selectors.

In past years, Giles was required by UCD for Sigerson Cup duty (a situation replicated this year by Laois's Ian Fitzgerald, who is on a GAA scholarship to Trinity College). "As such, Trevor was tied up and unavailable," said Kerrigan, "the rule of thumb being that you had to be able to give full commitment to the team."

Giles was unable to play in the semi-final win over Munster because of work commitments, but he is brought in for the final at the expense of Offaly's Vinny Claffey, who drops down to the substitutes' bench. Ciaran Whelan's availability is "a bit of a bonus", according to Kerrigan, adding that the Dublin player "is getting better all the time."

Whelan was sent off while playing in the O'Byrne Cup against Louth last Saturday but, because of the experimental rules in operation in that competition, was cleared by the Leinster Council to play on Sunday.

Mark O'Reilly has been selected in his customary left corner back position, but will undergo a fitness test on his injured leg before the game. All Star Glen Ryan was unavailable to the selectors because of injury.

Meanwhile, Damien Bolger will be able to resume his football career with Dublin next week following the Leinster Council's reduction of his suspension from two years to 48 weeks. The council had banned Bolger for his role in last year's tempestuous under21 game between Dublin and Offaly.

However, he remains unavailable for Sunday's under-21 provincial championship game against Westmeath.

If Dublin beat Westmeath - although they face a tough task against a team backboned by many players who featured in the 1996 All-Ireland minor winning side - Bolger will probably be drafted into their squad. Jonathon McGee and Dara Maxwell, who have broken into Dublin's senior side since Tommy Carr assumed the managerial reins, are named in the team for the game in Mullingar.