Stephen Hiney has had reconstructive surgery on the injured knee which ruled him out of the Dublin hurlers' Championship plans.

The draw for the third phase of the All-Ireland SHC qualifiers took place this evening at Croke Park.

CLOCKS go forward at 1am tomorrow morning. Thirteen and a half hours later, championship-esque fare comes early for Offaly and Wexford as they meet in a battle which will have a major say on their hurling for the next couple of years.

At a meeting in Portlaoise last night, the Laois County Board Executive unanimously backed the reappointment of Sean Dempsey as manager of the Laois senior footballers for next year.

FORMER Armagh great Jarlath Burns has criticised the current standard of gaelic football and claimed that the game is suffering from ‘paralysis by analysis’.