Phoenix-bound hurling stars boast top subs

Kilkenny’s D.J. Carey and Clare’s Brian Lohan and Colin Lynch are all unavailable, as is Cork’s Setanta O hAilpin, who has made the switch to Aussie Rules. The other Cork representatives, Richard Curran and Joe Deane, are also out of the trip as they will be already on holiday with their county colleagues in Vietnam. In addition, four of the Kilkenny players are dual all-stars, so nine replacements have been called up.
The replacements are Darragh Ryan and Liam Dunne (Wexford), Benny Dunne (Tipperary), Paul Flynn (Waterford), Kevin Broderick (Galway), John Hoyne (Kilkenny), Tony Browne (Waterford), Mark Foley (Limerick) and Ciaran Herron (Antrim).
The all-star teams will be managed by Kilkenny manager Brian Cody and former Clare boss Cyril Lyons.

BOOKIES FAVOR CHAMPS
The Irish bookies certainly don’t think that New York’s hurlers or footballers will cause a major upset in 2004. The New York hurlers are listed at 5,000/1 along with Kildare, London and Westmeath to win the McCarthy Cup next September. And if you fancy a flutter, you can get even better odds on the Big Apple’s footballers, who are rated alongside London as 10,000/1 shots for the Sam Maguire Cup. For serious gamblers Kilkenny are hot favorites for the 2004 hurling championship at 11/10 with Cork second favorites at 100/30. And Tyrone are joint favorites to retain the football title they won for the first time last September. Mickey Harte’s men and Jack O’Connor’s Kerry are both on offer at 7/2, with Armagh at 11/2.

CONNACHT TAKE ON PAU
Ireland has three teams in the Heineken Cup: Munster, Leinster and Ulster. Meanwhile, Connacht play in the next level down, the Parker Pen Challenge Cup. After beating French side Beziers in the first round, Connacht have been paired with another French club in the second round. Pau, who have the brilliant French No. 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, will visit the Sports Ground in Galway for the first leg on Saturday, with the second leg in Pau the following Saturday. Connacht will be without their French prop forward Fabien Boiroux, who was banned for 9 weeks after a head-butting incident against Beziers. Connacht coach Michael Bradley believes that his team need to win the first leg. “Psychologically, as much as anything else, you need a lead. Even if it was only a point, it would be something positive to take with you on the flight over there,” the former Irish scrum half said.
Meanwhile, Munster are once again facing a ticket shortage for their away game against Gloucester in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. Munster will raffle their allocation of 1,260 tickets (630 pairs). A Munster spokesman said: “We have had in excess of 5,000 requests and expect more before the closing date. The response has been truly remarkable and it demonstrates once again what magnificent fans Munster rugby has.”

FEW FANCY RHINESTONE
Nineteen-year-old amateur jockey J.P. Magnier, son of Coolmore Stud owner John, will ride his father’s horse Rhinestone Cowboy in the Smurfit Champions Hurdle at Cheltenham in March. But after being beaten by 66/1 shot Golden Cross at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting, the Jonjo O’Neill-trained horse has drifted out in the betting. “Only a brave man or a lunatic would have A sizable ante-post bet on the Champions Hurdle at this stage,” a spokesman for the bookmakers Corals said.

HOTEL TO BE READY FOR ’05 CONGRESS
This year’s GAA Congress is being held in Killarney for the first time, with the Gleneagle Hotel being the likely venue. But in 2005 the GAA will have their own hotel for their annual meeting. The plan is that the congress will be the first official event to be held in the new GAA hotel on Jones Road, across the road from Croke Park. So far we haven’t heard any suggestions of a name for the hotel, but it will not be run by the GAA, they will contract it out to an Irish or international hotel group.

NICHOLL MAY GET CALL
Former international Jimmy Nicholl remains the favorite to take over from Sammy McIlroy as Northern Ireland boss. Nicholl is currently assistant manager with Scottish club Dunfermline. Just before Christmas, Ian Dowie, another possible candidate, ruled himself out when he was appointed manger of Crystal Palace. Dowie, a former striker with the London club, did reasonably well at his last club, Oldham Athletic, getting them into the second division playoffs last season.
Meanwhile, former Republic of Ireland international Alan McLoughlin has taken his first step in management. The man who scored that memorable equalizer against Northern Ireland in Windsor Park in November 1993, was last week appointed assistant manager at English club Forest Green. They currently play in the Conference League, which is just a step below the third division.

LIMERICK BOSS DROPS GOALIE
New Limerick hurling manager Pat Joe Whelahan has caused a surprise on Shannonside by omitting regular goalkeeper Timmy Houlihan from his preliminary squad of 49. But Whelahan has recalled 32-year-old Pat Heffernan, who has not played for the county since 1994. The Offaly man has also retained two other veterans, Stephen McDonagh and Ciaran Carey. Managing Limerick can be a difficult task. Last year, Dave Keane, who had done great work at Under-21 level, had a poor season after taking over from Eamon Cregan and every week there were rumors of unrest coming out of Limerick. But Whelahan is determined to give everybody a chance.
“I met with the county board and told them I wanted to give every decent player in Limerick a chance,” he said. “We ended up with a list of 206 names, held two trials every Saturday for three weeks in various venue around the county. We had a final trial at Claughan and from that we have picked a panel of 49, which will be whittled down again before the league campaign starts at the end of February.”
Meanwhile, Tommy Stack is the new Limerick football captain. The Drom-Broadford clubman takes over from Muiris Gavin.

FLYWEIGHT IS BACK
Belfast flyweight Damaen Kelly is set for a return to the ring on Jan. 16. The 30-year-old is set to feature on a support bill being organized by Jess Harding in England. Kelly’s last fight was a defeat by Colombian Irene Pacheco in September.

O’ROURKE STAYS WITH CLUB
The Cork County Board have finalized their senior hurling management team for the year ahead. Patsy Morrissey, from county champions Newtownshandrum, joins Seanie O’Leary, John Allen and Fred Sheedy as Donal O’Grady’s selectors.
Meanwhile, Malachy O’Rourke, manager of Ulster club champions Loup, has declined an offer to take over from Dominic Corrigan as Fermanagh senior football boss. O’Rourke said he’s committed to Loup, who face Connacht champions Caltra in the All-Ireland club semifinal next month.
And new Wicklow football manager Hugh Kenny has succeeded in persuading Ronan Coffey to rejoin the squad for the upcoming National League campaign. Coffey didn’t play under the previous manager, John O’Leary. Coffey had been disillusioned with previous Wicklow Chairman Donal McGillicuddy when his father, Moses, was relived of the county job in the Garden County. Since Kenny took over from O’Leary in November, he has given trails to 150 players.

CAMOGIE STAR DIES
The death occurred in Dublin just before Christmas of former camogie star Orla Ryan. Ryan, who was a daughter of former GAA Director General Sean O Siochain, won three senior All-Ireland camogie medals with Dublin in the 1960s. She was married to Tipperary hurler Jack Ryan, a son of former GAA President Seamus O Riain, and her son Shane has played senior hurling and football for the Dubs.
The death has also occurred of Bob Hennessy, one of Ireland’s best-loved soccer reporters. Born in Dublin, Hennessy spent most of his working life in the London area, where he kept the Irish papers informed of how the Irish players in England were doing. And many an Irish journalist used his extensive records to get in contact with Irish players in England. Hennessy was diagnosed with cancer last Easter and died at his home in Frimley, Surrey, on Christmas Eve.

FAI SHOULD GET FIFA EXEMPTION
So is it going to be Parkhead, Anfield or Old Trafford for the homeless FAI? Last week, Glasgow Celtic said they would be willing to let the FAI use Parkhead for home games. And Manchester United are also reported to be willing to help. But I think there is a fair amount of political gamesmanship going on to try to put pressure on the GAA to open up Croke Park. Yes, FIFA have said they are not in favor of temporary seating at World Cup qualifying games. But I think they mean temporary structures like those used in some African countries. The box seats at Lansdowne Road have a proper back and are placed on concrete rows that have been used for decades. I think the FAI would probably get an exemption from FIFA to continue using the Lansdowne box seats if they so wish. The GAA cannot make a decision until their annual congress in April.
Meanwhile, the meeting to fix dates for the Republic’s group will be held in Dublin on Feb. 3. If Ireland did have to go to somewhere like Parkhead, it could cause big problems. Will Ryanair or Aer Lingus provide cheap flights for up to 50,000 supporters? And if Scotland were playing at Hampden Park on the same date, would the Scottish police allow two internationals to go ahead in Glasgow on the same day? The same situation could apply in England, where Wembley is now closed and the FA are alternating between various Premiership grounds for home games. It’s going to be difficult enough for the FAI to get the home games they want when negotiating with France, Switzerland, Cyrpus, Israel and the Faroe Islands next month, but having to take in account another association’s home games would be crazy.

IRISH TEAM TO TRAIN IN S.F.
Irish women’s hockey coach Riet Kuper has called up five uncapped players for a 10-day training camp in San Francisco later this month. The trip marks the start of the Irish women’s team preparation for the upcoming Olympic qualifier in Auckland, New Zealand, in March. The squad will be based in Palo Alto and will play and train at Stanford University from Jan. 9-18.

TENNIS STAR TO OPT FOR IRELAND
Kevin Sorensen, the 21-year-old son of former Irish tennis international Sean Sorensen, seems certain to declare for Ireland. The athlete, who was born in Stuttgart, Germany, holds an Irish passport and has expressed an interest in declaring for the country. He is likely to make his Irish debut in the Davis Cup tie against Hungary in April.