Reynolds loses out in reshuffle

There is no change in the Meath team for Sunday's All-Ireland football semi-final with champions Kerry at Croke Park. Manager Sean Boylan has instead settled on a number of positional switches from the starting line-up that beat Westmeath in the quarter-final replay earlier this month.

All the alterations are in the defence, with Cormac Murphy reverting to left corner back from the wing back position he played the last day. As a result, Hank Traynor now moves from corner back a more familiar centre back position.

Nigel Nestor filled the centre back position against Westmeath the second day but he now starts at left wing back. Donal Curtis stays at right wing back, where he was moved to for the replay.

It means Paddy Reynolds, who missed the last two games through suspension after being sent off in the Leinster semi-final against Kildare, has to settle for a place on the bench. As one of the more experienced defenders on the panel, his return had been expected but Boylan has a tradition of sticking with a winning formula.

There had been some doubts over the fitness of Darren Fay as he was forced to sit out part of training earlier this week.

Not surprisingly, though, he is named in his familiar full back berth, where he is set - at least on paper - to face Dara O CinnΘide.

This selection includes 13 of the side that won the All-Ireland title two years ago. The only men missing are Reynolds and Enda McManus, who has been sidelined with injury in recent seasons, while the new faces are Richie Kealy and Ray Magee. Kealy did appear as a substitute in that All-Ireland final.

With such little championship history between Meath and Kerry, the only comparisons made in recent years have been on league form. The sides last met competitively in the league semi-final on Easter Sunday of last year, when Meath sneaked through 4-11 to 1-18, thanks to late goals from Graham Geraghty and Barry Callaghan.

That game, however, ultimately proved far more useful for Kerry.

While Meath would suffer an early slip in the championship, Kerry learnt many useful lessons that day, especially defensively, that stood to them all the way to winning the All-Ireland title.

From then on, for example, Seamus Moynihan would take over at full back, a role filled that day by Michael McCarthy.

That game was also notable in that John Crowley only appeared as a substitute, although he was returning from injury at the time.

The Meath line-up from midfield to corner forward has remained largely unaltered since the start of the summer. Team captain Trevor Giles is once again at centre forward, where he will be marked by Eamon Fitzmaurice, while Magee, who was announced as a late starter before the Westmeath replay, is again named at left corner forward.

MEATH (SF v Kerry): C O'Sullivan; M O'Reilly, D Fay, C Murphy; D Curtis, H Traynor, N Nestor; N Crawford, J McDermott; E Kelly, T Giles, R Kealy; O Murphy, G Geraghty, R Magee