Na Fianna and Rathnew will go into Sunday's Leinster club football final replay at Newbridge (1.30) with only minor injury problems despite the extended campaigns of both clubs.
The suspended Dessie Farrell is the big loss for Na Fianna manager Mick Galvin, but he remains confident the depth of the squad can cover his absence. "Of course Dessie is a big loss but we do have players who can step in there," he says. "It will mean re-jigging the forward line a bit and we do have a few options.
"One of them will be to put defender Pat McCarthy up front (where he has played before). We're lucky now in that we don't have any other serious injury problems. Everyone seems to be fit and healthy even though it's been a heavy schedule. We are still a bit concerned about defender Noel ╙ Murch· (hamstring) but we think he should be able to come through."
Farrell is making use of the enforced break to get his troublesome knee injury attended to. He will visit Ray Moran's sports clinic this morning for a scope to decide on the best course of treatment.
Rathnew manager Harry Murphy, meanwhile, has reported his team to be in an equally solid state. There was concern over defender Barry Mernagh's jaw injury but that was revealed to be minor and he is likely to start.
"It's more a matter of bumps and bruises at this stage," he says, "but they shouldn't be enough to rule anybody out." Murphy, however, won't finalise his team until closer to the throw-in.
He is almost certain to give Leighton Glynn a starting place this time out after he made such a positive impression when he came on as a substitute for the second-half in the drawn match.
Elsewhere, the GAA has made an official correction to the All Star hurling selection that travels to Argentina next month. Originally it was announced that Kilkenny forward Charlie Carter and Tipperary goalkeeper Brendan Cummins were unable to take up the offer, but both players now intend to travel with the team for the exhibition match in Buenos Aires on January 26th.
The problem arose from the fact that Carter and Cummins were the only two players selected on both the 2000 and 2001 All Star teams. So with the teams facing each other in Argentina, and with the Kilkenny and Tipperary players only able to play on one side, replacements had to be called up for the other line-up.
The five replacements remain Sean McMahon of Clare, Ollie Moran and Brian Begley of Limerick, Damien Fitzhenry of Wexford and Ken McGrath of Waterford. McGrath and Fitzhenry will step in for Carter and Cummins on one of the teams, and the players have been contacted by the GAA and the situation clarified.
The three players definitely stepping out are Kilkenny's Eamonn Kennedy and DJ Carey, ruled out because of work commitments and a back injury respectively, and Galway's Eugene Cloonan, unavailable because of his studies.
The two team managers will be Tipperary's Nicky English and Kilkenny's Brian Cody. The tour party flies out of Dublin on Wednesday, January 23rd, and returns on Wednesday, January 30th.
Meanwhile, the Dublin Yearbook 2002 - that perennial Christmas stocking filler - is now in the shops. Included are interviews with new football manager Tommy Lyons, who puts his ambitions on record, and hurling boss Kevin Fennelly, who says that more dual players must opt for hurling exclusively if they are serious about the game.
Among the players to reflect on the year are Wayne McCarthy, Coman Goggins and David Sweeney, and there is an eight-page supplement of all Cumann na mBunscol's activities for the year, plus all the local news and views from the clubs.
