Walsh faces fitness test for Kilkenny

THE ubiquitous AN Other makes an appearance in the Kilkenny team announced last night for this Sunday's All-Ireland final against Cork, but otherwise the team is unchanged from that which trounced Tipperary in the semi-final.

The Kilkenny selectors await a fitness test this Friday evening on Tullaroan's young star Tommy Walsh, before finalising the number 12 position. Walsh scored the second Kilkenny goal in that semi-final win over Tipperary but was replaced shortly afterwards by clubmate Jimmy Coogan. According to reports, the recent training games in Nowlan Park have been played at championship intensity and in was in just such a game, last week, that Walsh suffered the injury that now makes him a doubt for Sunday. A heavy tackle resulted in a bruised hip, and last night was the youngster's first back in full training since the injury.

Reports suggest that he will recover in time but if not, Jimmy Coogan looks almost certain to be his replacement, though there are those who suggest that Coogan is actually better off sprung from the bench. Coogan first burst on the scene in last year's semi-final win over Tipperary, the game of the championship. Introduced as a replacement for Brian McEvoy in the 56th minute, within five minutes of his introduction the "who-he?" questions among the non-Kilkenny Croke Park crowd were shortly amplified as the strapping 24-year-old shot 1-1 in a one-minute spell, swung a game that to then had been very finely-balanced. Though he also scored a point in the final, that match was a more frustrating experience, and he was eventually replaced in the 54th minute, for Charlie Carter.

Other than the wait on Walsh, the team is the same as that which started against Tipperary in the semi-final. There had been speculation about whether fit-again Richie Mullally, one of the stars of last season, would regain his place at left-half-back, but Sean Dowling who impressed there all year, keeps the spot. Others who will be making their first senior start in an All-Ireland final are corner-back James Ryall, who will have the torrid task of trying to curb Cork's new young Turk, Setanta Ó hAilpín, and midfielder Paddy Mullally, a brother of Richie's and former captain of the Kilkenny senior football team. Mullally continues to hold off the challenge of last year's winning captain, Andy Comerford, who reinforces a very strong bench. Unless Walsh fails his fitness test and Coogan starts, the only line that remains unchanged from last year's final is the inside forward trio, though Eddie Brennan and DJ Carey have swapped corners.