Offaly have named the team which finished against Louth in the Leinster football semi-final for their bid to wrest the Leinster title from Meath on Saturday and, by extension, deprive Meath of the All-Ireland title which they won last September. In the only change in the starting line-up from the win over Louth , Colm Quinn starts at right half forward instead of Mark Daly, whom he replaced after 47 minutes of the Louth match.

Offaly have waited, albeit impatiently, while Meath and Kildare met three times before a conclusion could be reached in the other semi-final and they have used the time available to them well, according to local observers. Having disposed of Louth on June 29th they were within their rights in feeling that they might be in a position to challenge for the Leinster final within a couple of weeks at least, but the protracted tie between Meath and Kildare caused them some frustration which was later turned to good account by their manager Tommy Lyons.

He made good use of a relaxing period to deal with the usual injury problems and to set aside the little irritations can disrupt a team under pressure.