Gaelic Games: Westmeath football manager Páidí O Sé has named two championship debutants for Sunday's eagerly awaited Leinster clash with Offaly at Croke Park. Goalkeeper Gary Connaughton and full forward Denis Glennon, who both featured regularly during Westmeath's mixed league campaign, have made the step up.
David O'Shaughnessy has recovered from recent flu to take his place at midfield while Dessie Dolan and Fergal Wilson complete the full forward line. The most notable absentee from the starting line-up is Martin Flanagan, who remains on the long-term injury list.
The Leinster Council last night deferred a final decision on the participation of the Westmeath senior hurling team in the Leinster championship.
Last night's meeting of the council's GAC ruled that Westmeath have a case to answer in the illegal use of substitutes in their match against Kildare.
But Westmeath had waived their right to three days notice on the matter. This forced the Leinster council to reconvene next Monday night to explore the next possible route of concluding the controversy.
Six Westmeath substitutes were listed in the match reports from Sunday's game at Cusack Park in Mullingar, the last being the introduction of Christy Fanning for centre forward Ollie Devine. At that stage Westmeath were cruising towards victory, winning out 1-18 to Kildare's 1-6 and apparently sealing their date with Dublin on Sunday week.
Under GAA rules the county management is ultimately responsible for keeping track of the number of substitutes used in the course of the game. Up to last year no more that 20 players, including blood replacements, could be called on no matter what the circumstances. That was revised to 21 as long as the sixth replacement was officially declared as a blood replacement.
The penalty for such an infringement is the automatic forfeiture of the game, and there is no provision under rule for a re-fixture.
Significantly, only the losers of the Leinster quarter-final have the cushion of the All-Ireland qualifiers to fall back on, with the losers before that stage of the competition not benefiting from a second chance.
Elsewhere, GAA president Seán Kelly has announced details of the inaugural President's Awards, set up to recognise outstanding commitment and long time service to the GAA. They will be presented in Croke Park on Friday, June 4th.
The awards are aimed at acknowledging the achievements and commitment of individuals throughout the association by providing formal recognition of their work.
The GAA will also next week announce final details of their new partnership with Access Telecom, making it the official fixed line of the GAA - despite a similar deal announced earlier this month between the GPA and ClubTel.
It has also been confirmed that Ciarán Whelan will retain his captaincy of the Dublin senior footballers for this year's championship, starting with the winners of Offaly-Westmeath on June 6th.
WESTMEATH (SF v Offaly): G Connaughton; J Davitt, D O'Donoghue, J Keane; M Ennis, J Healy, D Heavin; R O'Connell, D O'Shaughnessy; B Morley, G Dolan, A Mangan; F Wilson, D Glennon, D Dolan.
DOWN (SH v New York): G Clarke; L Clarke, S Murray, E Dorrian; S Wilson, G Savage, G Clarke; A Savage, G Adair; G McGrattan, P Braniff, B McGourty; M Coulter, G Johnson, J Convery.
