GAELIC GAMES/Leinster SHC final and team news: Tony Dempsy, the Wexford manager, has made two changes to the side that defeated Dublin for Sunday's Leinster senior hurling championship final against Kilkenny.
MJ Furlong gets a championship debut, selected at right half-forward ahead of clubmate and veteran Larry Murphy. Furlong's inclusion extends the under-age influence in this evolving Wexford side. The forward was a member of the Wexford under-21 team that defeated Kilkenny last Thursday night at Nowlan Park 1-13 to 0-15 after Rory Jacob fired a 63rd-minute goal.
Furlong joins Darren Stamp, who broke through last summer, and Brendan Lambert on the senior side for Sunday's tie.
In the other change from the Dublin game, Wexford will be boosted by the unexpected recovery of David "Doc" O'Connor, who has been selected after a lay-off with a broken finger. O'Connor is another from the under-21 ranks who stormed on to the senior scene during Wexford's memorable championship performances last year.
He comes in at right half-back, with Stamp returning to his preferred position at midfield. Nicky Lambert loses out.
Dempsey has elaborated on last year's theme, which mixed bright newcomers with the remaining few from the county's 1996 All-Ireland-winning team. Liam Dunne holds down the familiar right half-back spot, with Adrian Fenlon and Paul Codd in the half-forward line alongside novice Furlong. There had been fears that Dunne would miss the game after reports that he had fractured an elbow in a club game.
Preparations for the Leinster final were threatened when it became apparent that the St Anne's club were considering withdrawing Darragh Ryan, David O'Connor and Donal Berry because of a lengthy suspension imposed on county footballer Redmond Berry by the county board.
However, a spokesperson for St Anne's confirmed earlier this week that they had no intention of withdrawing their players and that there would be no boycott by the players in question.
A win for Wexford would give the county its first provincial championship since 1997. However, many people expect Kilenny's domination of the Leinster game to continue. The losers of this final will face Clare in Thurles on July 20th in the All-Ireland qualifying series.
Meanwhile, Kilkenny manager Brian Cody will name his team this evening. There are no injury concerns in the squad.
WEXFORD (SH v Kilkenny): D Fitzhenry; C Kehoe, D Ryan, R Mallon; D O'Connor, D Ruth, L Dunne; D Stamp, R McCarthy; MJ Furlong, A Fenlon, P Codd; B Lambert, L O'Gorman, M Jordan.
