Russell takes charge

For the first time since the controversial All-Ireland final in 1995, Tipperary referee Paddy Russell will take charge of a Tyrone match. He officiates at the county's Ulster championship first round match against champions Armagh at Clones on Sunday.

Russell - who says he is "looking forward" to the occasion - is no stranger to either the venue or the opposition as he took charge of the NFL final replay between Derry and Meath in Clones two weeks ago and refereed last year's Ulster final between Armagh and Down.

He will be remembered in Tyrone for disallowing what would have been a late equaliser by wing back Sean McLaughlin in the All-Ireland of five years ago against Dublin.

Peter Canavan was centrally involved in the incident and his pass from the ground was ruled invalid although the player protested that the ball was bouncing when he made contact.

"We don't have great memories of Paddy from a few years ago, but we'll not be worrying about the referee on Sunday," he said. "We'll have enough to worry about, playing the Ulster champions, so the referee will be the last of our worries. "We're not playing Dublin, and it's not an All-Ireland final, so I don't think it will have a bearing."

Canavan, one of several Tyrone injury concerns, was passed fit to play last night and is confident that he will suffer no ill-effects. "It's been a bit frustrating this past couple of weeks, but I hope to be fit by Sunday," he said. "It's a knock that I picked up in a league game a couple of weeks back, but it's nothing too serious and I should be okay."

Opponents Armagh show very few changes from the side which was successful in the province last year. Only last year's captain, now retired, Jarlath Burns and Crossmaglen's John Donaldson, listed amongst the substitutes, are gone from the team which lost to Meath in last year's All-Ireland semi-final.

Donaldson - a Railway Cup winner with Leinster in his days as a Louth player - was a mildly controversial inclusion in the side for that semi-final as he hadn't played in the championship up to that point but came in for John Rafferty, now like Burns retired, for the Meath match.

Westmeath have confirmed that they will not be entering this year's intermediate hurling championship. "We haven't withdrawn," said county secretary Paddy Collins. "We never entered it in the first place but were inadvertently included in the draw because we entered the senior championship round-robin. But after three matches in that and a League programme of nine matches, we didn't want to play in the intermediate championship as well."

The county feels that the intermediate championship hasn't been a success with the second teams from traditional counties like "Kilkenny and Tipperary still far too strong for the first teams in counties like Westmeath," according to Collins.