Meath opt to bring in fringe players

Kevin Cahill of Mullingar Shamrocks is the Meath selectors' surprise choice for the centre half back spot in a reshuffled side to meet Offaly in the Leinster senior football final at Croke Park tomorrow evening. The introduction of former under-21 player Ned Kearney of Simonstown Gaels for his first championship match is no less surprising.

Sean Boylan and his co-selectors can hardly ever have been set a more difficult task ahead of a big game. In attempting to redress the problems created by suspensions, the selectors have decided on a team in which the goalkeeping, midfield and full forward lines are the only ones not to be changed.

The full back line problems arising from the suspensions of Mark Reilly and Darren Fay have been addressed by moving Donal Curtis from left half back to right corner back and by switching Enda McManus from centre half back to full back.

Nigel Nestor goes from left half forward to right half back, with Paddy Reynolds crossing to the left half back position.

Colm Coyle is again given the roaming role as a third midfielder, although officially sited at right corner forward.

But a starting place for Cahill for the first time and a debut for Kearney are the major talking points.

Cahill came on as a substitute in extra time of the first replay against Kildare, and now gets his big chance at 25 years of age.

Meanwhile, Dublin midfielder Brian Stynes says that Offaly's hunger for a match could pose a real threat to Meath. "Waiting around like Offaly have been makes you hungrier and hungrier for a game," says Stynes.

"Meath will be all the worse off for having to go three games with Kildare. They have been through a lot of hard football. It takes a lot out of you. They would have benefited a lot more from one meeting with Kildare."

In this context, Stynes recalls Meath's difficulty in beating Wicklow in the second round in 1991 "after the marathon with us" (the four-game Dublin-Meath series).

"Wicklow, in fact, nearly beat them. Offaly, like Wicklow then, are dying for a match. Saturday's match will just be another day at the office for Meath. It will be very different with Offaly. Tommy Lyons will have one of the fittest football teams ever to come out of county ready to do themselves justice."

Given the circumstances, and since Meath are without Graham Geraghty, Reilly and Fay - whom Stynes says will be a particularly serious loss - the Dubliner says that if the odds were right he wouldn't mind having a bet on Offaly.

A good start for Lyons's men will be essential for the sake of confidence alone, according to Stynes. "If they don't get that good start they could see their confidence severely affected and the match could rapidly drift away from them," he says.

Meath and Offaly last met in the championship two seasons ago, in a first round match in Navan. Meath emerged clear winners, with 10 points to spare.

Of the 33 Leinster finals Meath have contested they have won 18 and lost 15. Offaly won nine and lost eight of the 17 finals they have so far contested.

Offaly's last win over Meath in the championship was in the 1979 Leinster semi-final, on the scoreline of 0-16 to 2-6. Offaly's last appearance in the final ended in defeat by Dublin in 1983.

Meanwhile, Kildare full back Davy Dalton, who was sent to the line after 16 minutes of the second replay of the semi-final against Meath, is keeping his fingers crossed in the hope that he will be eligible to play for his club, Kilcock on Sunday.

A special meeting of the Leinster Council executive is to convene, perhaps at Croke Park, before the Leinster final, to deal solely with Dalton's suspension. His sending off was generally considered to be a harsh decision, and he is expected to be given a minimum fortnight's ban which would expire at midnight tomorrow.

Meath's Darren Fay and Mark Reilly and Kildare's Brian Murphy, who were also sent off in the same match, will have their cases dealt with on Tuesday next.

Sligo football manager Mickey Moran has been asked to take charge of the county team for another year.

The former Derry star, who earlier this month guided Sligo to their first Connacht final in 16 years, got unanimous backing to continue as team boss at Wednesday night's meeting of the county board.

The ban imposed by the Leinster Council excluding Offaly from next year's under-21 football championship is to be appealed. This was decided at the August meeting of the Offaly county board at which the county's delegates to the Leinster council, Andy Gallagher and Jack Ryland, were instructed to propose the lifting of the ban and the re-instatement of Offaly at the next meeting of the Leinster Council.

The ban was imposed following an investigation into the scenes which marred this year's semifinal against Dublin in Parnell Park.