Kildare panel trimmed

3/8/2007 - By: Brendan Coffey

KILDARE manager John Crofton has named his panel for the rest of the league campaign. Crofton didn't announce his panel to the players but rang those who were dropped from the squad on Sunday night, while the finalised panel met for training last night (Tuesday 6 March).

The panel of 30 will be revised again before the championship clash with Meath on 20 May, but for the moment the panel has been trimmed, with the arrival of the Moorefield players adding strength to the squad.

Definitely included in the panel is the starting 15 from the last league game against Derry, which Kildare won by three points (0-10 to 0-7). Of the new faces in this year's squad, Emmet Bolton and Mark Scanlon from last year's U21 side hold on to their places, with both showing well in the Derry game. Scanlon has started all three games in the league so far.

Brian Flanagan is another to make the step up from the U21s, having started against Derry on the back of a fine display against Down, when he came on as a substitute late in the second half.

There are six players from the Moorefield side which reached the All-Ireland semi-final to come onto the panel, although there are a number of injury concerns at the moment. Daryl Flynn picked up an ankle injury in the drawn game with Dr Crokes, while Ronan Sweeney had an operation on his groin earlier in the week. Sweeney may miss the rest of the league campaign while Flynn is expected to be out for between three and four weeks. The towering midfielder was plagued by injury in 2006, playing through the pain barrier with Liam McLoughlin's U21 side before getting back to full fitness as Moorefield went on the march in Leinster.

His midfield partner with Moorefield, Ross Glavin is also the subject of some concern, although his problem is not as serious.

Kevin O'Neill, Tom Corley and Ian Lonergan have also been called up, and O'Neill is expected to start for Kildare against Galway in the next round of the league on Sunday, after two superb displays marking Colm Cooper in the club All-Ireland semi-final.

Dermot Earley is still on the injury list, having broken a metatarsal in the first round of the league against Armagh, but after initial fears that he too could miss the rest of the campaign, it is expected that he will be back playing very shortly.

Mick Foley from Athy and Maynooth's Karl Ennis haven't been considered for the panel yet as they continue their recovery. Foley slipped a disc in his back and is doing running on his own at the moment, as is Ennis, who is still recovering from a shoulder operation last October. Ennis picked up the injury against Offaly in the Leinster championship.

James Kavangh, Ken Donnelly, Tommy Archbald and Pierre Ennis were brought on against Derry and all are included in the panel. Aindriu MacLochlann, who was married recently, missed the last two league games while he tied the knot, but is back in contention for a starting place against Galway

"The team that played the last day against Derry and the subs that are brought on are all definitely included. We have four or five lads out with injury on top of the 30 lads in the panel. We'll be picking a panel again ahead of the championship but some of the lads who are not picked then will be given individual training programmes in case we have to call anyone in," said selector Pat McCarthy on Tuesday.

The team for the Galway clash, Kildare's fourth league outing, was named last night after training. The Lilies are currently second in the table behind surprise leaders Westmeath, although Galway have struggled so far, losing two of their three games but they beat Armagh last week.

"The team will be much the same although Kevin O'Neill and Tom Corley will be in contention for the starting 15," added McCarthy.

This will be Kildare's first outing against a county from outside Ulster and is seen as a litmus test for the side as John Crofton tries to gel his team together. A win here would give Kildare a great chance of making the play-offs but they will be nervous ahead of the Salthill clash, after the Tribesmen won by a point in Newbridge this time last year at the end of a dour tussle.

Probable Kildare team to face Galway: E Murphy; E Callaghan, K O’Neill, A MacLochlann; M Scanlon, M Hogarty, A Rainbow; K Brennan, W Heffernan; D McCormack, J Doyle, B Flanagan; P O'Neill, T O’Connor, M Donnelly