LIMERICK, joint leaders of Division One, have made one change to the side that drew with Tipperary in the Gaelic Grounds the weekend before last, for the visit of Laois to Kilmallock this Sunday.
Brian Tobin drops back to the bench from the right corner forward position and is replaced by Padraig Tobin who came on against Tipperary and scored a point.
There will be slight surprise that Pat Heffernan who replaced Shane O'Neill at full forward in the same match, remains on the bench despite looking in good shape and despite the disappointing display of O'Neill after he had the benefit of scoring an early goal.
An interesting aspect of the substitutes bench is the return of Sean O'Neill, the team's centrefielder for the last two years, to the panel for the first time this season after injury.
He will have his hands full as Ollie Moran, who has partnered Mike Houlihan, has been the most consistent of the Limerick new comers.
Opponents Laois have made three changes from the side that started so well against Wexford but remained pointless. The county's problems continue to mount and at the latest count, 11 players are unavailable to the team because of injury.
Missing from the last day are Niall Rigney and Barry McEvoy who are suffering from a broken finger and a leg injury, respectively.
John Kealy is dropped and into the team comes veteran John Taylor at corner back despite misgivings about his match fitness.
On the half forward line, Tony Dunne returns For his first competitive start in three years and Seamus Cuddy for the first time since last year's NHL semi final defeat by Tipperary.
The huge injury toll hasn't been without its blessings. Manager Babs Keating is reported to rate full back Ray Fogarty, the county's only AllIreland handball champion, and his corner back colleague John Shortall as the "best new defenders discovered anywhere in the country this year".
All Ireland champions Wexford have dropped Larry Murphy as they make three changes to the team that defeated Laois. Into the side for the trip to Tipperary are Tom Dempsey and Larry O'Gorman, after injury, in place of Murphy and Paul Finn. Shane Carley replaces Eugene Furlong in defence with Sean Flood reverting to the corner back position.
Kilkenny make one change from the team that beat Offaly for Sunday's eagerly awaited clash with Clare in Nowlan Park. Former All Star John Power comes in at centre forward, and in a reshuffled team Peter Barry is the unlucky one to lose out.
Meanwhile, in Division Two, fonder leaders Cork make three changes to the team that was somewhat surprisingly knocked off the top by Dublin at Parnell Park, nearly a fortnight ago.
One of the alterations is enforced with Ger Manley missing through injury, which paves the way for Barry Egan to make his first league start of the season, on the left wing of the attack.
The other changes see Pat Mulcahy return to the fullback line and Johnny Sheehan come in at centrefield as direct replacement for Ronan Dwane whose centre forward place is filled by Alan Cummins, who partnered Michael Daly in the middle the last day.
"We were very disappointed with the Dublin result," says manager Jimmy Barry Murphy, particularly our performance in the first half.
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