Hurling news: Galway midfielder Fergal Healy is a doubtful starter for Sunday's National Hurling League final against Waterford, set for the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.
Healy retired injured against Limerick last Sunday week and is the main concern for manager Conor Hayes, who, like Waterford counterpart Justin McCarthy, otherwise reports a mostly clean bill of health.
"Fergal is still troubled by the rib injury he picked up the last day," said Hayes. "He has come on a bit in the last few days, but at this stage it's very doubtful if he'll be able to start."
Rory Gantley is just one of the options for Hayes, although David Tierney is still returning to full fitness from a broken thumb. Alan Kerins is bothered by a minor calf injury but should be fine, and the only other concern is over Tony Óg Regan and Adrian Cullinane (exams).
Waterford should be in a position to name a team after training tonight, with Tony Browne and Paul Flynn - who had been concerns - showing no fresh ill effects from their key contributions against Tipperary.
The curtain raiser for Sunday's game will be the division two final between Down and Westmeath, with the winners assured of promotion to top flight hurling.
Meath's failure to fulfil last Sunday's fixture against Down will be dealt with by the Games Administration Committee (GAC) at the next meeting on May 12th.
According to the GAA's Fergal McGill, the GAC is likely to take a "fairly strong line". "It was a difficult situation," he added, "but the game had to go ahead this weekend. So this is the sort of thing that cannot be allowed to develop." Under Rule 130, teams that fail to fulfil a fixture face a minimum fine of €400, but sub-sections of the rule allow for more severe penalties if the action is deemed to have brought the game into disrepute.
Last week Meath manager John Hunt insisted he had no intention of sending a team to Portaferry, a fixture cancelled the previous week when Meath were unable to finish their journey because of fog. His prime concern were the 14 panel members also in Leinster under-21 action at the weekend.
All-Ireland club hurling champions Newtownshandrum were beaten 1-15 to 2-9 by CIT in the first round of the Cork senior hurling championship in Mallow last evening. They will have a second chance as they play city side Delanys in the losers' round.
