Time for fresh faces as experiments begin

IT never rains but it pours and this weekend the fixture list is saturated with football games up and down the country as the GAA shakes itself from its all too brief winter hibernation.

All 34 managers, including the mentors of the 10 college teams involved, will be throwing callow but eager youngsters into the fray in the hope that a winter spent mining for new talent has been rewarded with a handful of gems capable of adding that elusive extra 2-3% to the team's strength.

Some managers are planning to experiment more than others. The Kildare team that lines out against Longford in the O'Byrne Cup in Newbridge tomorrow will be unrecognisable from the side that competed in last summer's championship.