There are two enforced changes in the Mayo team for Sunday's Connacht final against Sligo in Hyde Park, Roscommon. Fullback Kevin Cahill is out through injury while Colm McManamon is suspended following a sending off in the semi-final victory over Leitrim.

Veteran Pat Holmes moves back from centre half to the middle of the fullback line to replace Cahill who is recovering from an operation to his knee. James Nallen moves from the midfield to his more accustomed position at centre half back.

The suspension of McManamon causes a considerable reshuffle elsewhere in the team. Liam McHale moves from centre-forward to step in for Nallen at midfield. That leaves two positions to fill and David Nestor and Ronan Golding are called up.

Nestor was actually selected to play against Leitrim but had to drop out following a training injury. Now he comes in at left half forward with James Horan moving to "the forty". Maurice Sheridan, who lines out in the left corner against Leitrim. moves to right half forward and Ronan Golding replaces him. As yet no decision has been made on substitutes.

The introduction of Golding brings to three the number of Balla players in the side, the biggest club contribution. The three are Golding, Maurice Sheridan and Pat Fallon.

The latter yesterday admitted that he believed Roscommon would beat Sligo quite readily in the semi-final. "Obviously I under-estimated Sligo in that match and we must not make the mistake of doing that again. They have a very fast young team and they will certainly give us a serious test. I believe we will win but it won't be easy. Sligo's confidence has been given a huge boost and I expect a tough challenge" he said.

Fallon is now playing better than at any time and he is grateful to the team medic, Dr Frank Davey, for this.

Fallon believed that his difficulty in breathing during matches was due to a lack of top fitness. Dr Davey diagnosed asthma and prescribed medicine which has resulted in a solution to the problem. "I feel great now and apart from helping with my breathing it has increased my confidence" he said. The pairing of Fallon and McHale in the middle of the field for Mayo is expected to be Sligo's biggest problem.

Sligo are not expected to select their side until later in the week. Apart from the fact that Philip Neary is out of action following a motoring accident no other changes in the team which beat Roscommon are expected.

Sligo morale may be given a boost towards the end of the week when Telefis na Gaeilge will show the Connacht final of 1975 when Sligo beat Mayo in a replay in Castlebar. The score in that match was 2-10 to 0-15 after the teams had played a draw in Markievicz Park. The Sligo manager, Mickey Moran from Derry met the other selectors over the weekend to plan their strategy. "We took a long hard look at things. Everybody has put in a 100 per cent effort since the Roscommon match and there is stiff competition between players for a number of positions.

"We had a number of injury problems earlier in the year, but they are all cleared up. Philip Neary is the only problem at the moment. It is very disappointing for the lad. He scored three points in the Roscommon match and was a virtual certainty for the final, but he is young and I'm sure he'll be back very soon," Moran said.

Sligo are fortunate in that they have a ready-made replacement in Brian Walsh, Neary's Tubbercurry team-mate. Walsh would probably have played in the Roscommon match were it not for injury, but he is fully recovered and will probably claim a place in the attack for Sunday's match.

The Kerry county board is baffled by an outbreak of stomach illness among its panel of players within the past 10 days. At least six of the players have had stomach problems and Stephen Stack was treated in hospital. Others were confined to bed for varying periods.

The secretary of the Kerry county board, Tony O'Keeffe, said yesterday that they were mystified. "I didn't hear about it myself until the weekend but we can find no common denominator between the different cases. As well as that people who have no connection with the team have also gone down with a bug. We just don't know what to make of it," O'Keeffe said.

The players affected were Killian Burns, Stephen Stack (both of whom missed club matches because of the bug), John Crowley, Michael Francis Russell, John Brennan and Gene Farrell.

Meanwhile, Farrell and Morgan O'Shea who were not fit to play in the Munster final against Clare, are back in training and reported to be in much better shape.

Kildare are not expected to name their team for the second replay against Meath until later in the week. They will pick a side from a full list of players.

Meath are also confident of having a full team out with the exception of Graham Geraghty who is suspended