Hennelly out as Horan rings changes for Galway clash
ROB HENNELLY must be wondering what he has to do to nail down a Mayo place after his stellar display against Dublin last week wasn’t enough to hold his position for this evening’s Allianz FL Division 1 derby with Galway as manager James Horan (right) makes six changes.
Hennelly is surprisingly replaced by two-time All-Star goalkeeper David Clarke as part of Horan’s ongoing “rotation policy” throughout the league with Ger Cafferkey, Paddy Durcan, Ciarán Treacy, 2017 Footballer of the Year Andy Moran and Brian Reape also losing out.
In come Chris Barrett, Stephen Coen, Diarmuid O’Connor, James Durcan and Darren Coen as Horan bids to regain the early-season momentum lost in an eight-point hammering to the league and All-Ireland champions in Croke Park.
It is the first league start for corner-forward James Durcan despite the fact the Castlebar Mitchels sharpshooter made four SFC appearances last summer while O’Connor captains the side from left half-forward.
There’s welcome news for Tyrone supporters as Connor McAliskey returns from a long injury lay-off to make his first start of the season for Mickey Harte’s men in their all-Ulster clash with Cavan at Healy Park tonight (7.0).
McAliskey is back following a lengthy injury lay-off – he dislocated his ankle in a club game last October – and comes in at corner-forward in a game where a win could prove vital for both sides as they sit in the bottom half of the top tier following four rounds.
Tipperary’s footballers will have Brian Fox available for tonight’s crucial Division 2 clash with Cork in Thurles (7.0) after the Premier stalwart had his red card rescinded from last weekend’s loss to Armagh.
Fox was shown red for an incident involving Armagh’s Jamie Clarke but Thursday night’s Central Hearings Committee (CHC) meeting overturned his one-match ban which makes him available for the relegation battle against their Munster rivals.
On the hurling front, Clare have made one enforced change from the starting 15 that edged out Wexford last Sunday with Ballyea attacker Niall Deasy replacing the injured John Conlon while opponents Limerick show several changes.
John Kiely has introduced many new faces for the All-Ireland champions after they suffered their first league defeat to Cork last Sunday with ace attacker Aaron Gillane and defender Paddy O’Loughlin returning from Fitzgibbon Cup duty.
Dan Morrissey, Colin Ryan and Young Hurler of the Year Kyle Hayes are also included in Kiely’s line-up with Diarmaid Byrnes, Shane Dowling, Mikey O’Brien, Darragh O’Donovan and Pat Ryan the ones to miss out.
Kilkenny boss Brian Cody has given a vote of confidence to the team that overcame Tipperary last Sunday by naming an unchanged side for their trip to Wexford tomorrow, while Tipp boss Liam Sheedy can call on All-Star attacker John McGrath from the start for their spin to Páirc Uí Rinn tomorrow (2.0) to play Munster rivals Cork.