Murphy's minors to set sliotar rolling

All-Ireland MHC Final Galway v Limerick Throw-in - 1.30pmOn paper Galway have this ESB All-Ireland minor final in the bag. Granted, past margins of victory will make no difference once Dublin referee Eamon Morris throws the ball in early on Sunday afternoon.

A simple comparison is, however, available. Cork were too strong for Limerick in the Munster final, while a classy Galway team containing 10 players from the panel that won last year's All-Ireland title obliterated Cork in the semi-final.

They were ruthless, and their sometimes-controversial manager, Mattie Murphy, said as much in a television interview afterwards. It was a matter of settling old scores.

But Murphy dismisses even the vaguest suggestions Limerick need not turn up this time.

"The manner of our win over Cork was more of a fluke result," he says.

"We got a dream start and it's very rare for 18-year-olds to have the maturity to recover from such a start. The same happened in the Munster final, except it was Cork who got a very good start. There's not too much between us."

This stance does not sound so outlandish when you consider Limerick beat Galway in two out of three challenge matches this year.

If Galway's winter of discontent had gone unchallenged Murphy would be in charge of the senior panel. That messy situation was eventually sorted out as the attempt to remove Conor Hayes ended in failure. If order had not been restored there is a decent chance Galway would not be contesting either All-Ireland final tomorrow.

That's not taking away from Murphy's ability to step up. It's just that right now his role as a motivator of the young appears invaluable.

And the young in Galway have been setting the standard for some time now, with Murphy the link that allows graduates develop their potential onto the senior stage.

Joe Canning looks destined to be the next wonder kid in the mould of Niall Healy and Ger Farragher. He clips points from the sideline does this younger brother of Ollie.

There are others. Five in fact started last year's final, which took an exquisite display in the replay to see off Kilkenny, and four of these reside in an airtight defence led by central figures Paul Loughnane and Ciarán O'Donovan. So, most of them will be familiar with the Croke Park surface and the changing atmosphere as the, mainly Galway, crowd starts arriving after half-time.

The seniors' presence takes some of the pressure off them as well, and Murphy even rejigged his team ahead of Sunday to ensure hunger doesn't wane.

John Greene comes in at centre forward in an indirect swap for midfielder Francis Kerrigan, which sees Kevin Coen switched from half forward, while Alan Callanan is named ahead of Shane Howley at left half forward.

Limerick manager Tim O'Connor has made just one change from the side that overcame Dublin in the semi-final last month, with Seán Browne selected over Richard McCarthy at right corner back. Brian Quinn has recovered from a fractured wrist and takes his place on the bench.

O'Connor did strike oil in terms of motivation recently. Limerick were given their familiarisation session in Croke Park after the Armagh-Tyrone football semi-final and, through a family friend, Peter Canavan was persuaded to come out to chat with the players.

Considering what Canavan had just done, his words must have carried a heavy resonance.

And yet it still makes sense to stick with the favourites. Galway with something to spare.

GALWAY: J Skehill; A Leech, P Loughnane, P Callanan; J Hughes, C O'Donovan, K Kilkenny; A Keary, K Coen; S Glynn, J Greene, A Callanan; C Kavanagh, J Canning, B Murphy.

LIMERICK: G Flynn; S Browne, L Hurley, T Condon; J Kelly, D Moloney, G O'Mahony; D Moore, S Hickey; D Hanley, J Ryan, B O'Sullivan; M Ryan, E Ryan, D O'Sullivan.

Referee: E Morris (Dublin).