Roscommon spring surprise as Dolan omitted for Dublin tie

ROSCOMMON manager Tommy Carr has surprisingly omitted star forward Frankie Dolan from his team for tomorrow's All-Ireland football qualifier against Dublin at Croke Park.

While Dolan was substituted at half-time in the Connacht final defeat to Mayo, he was still expected to start against the Dubs and the absence of his name from the team sheet was unexpected

The St Brigid's player, who was unlucky not to receive an Allstar last year after scoring 0-25 in championship games against Offaly and Kildare, is one of four changes from the team which collapsed against Mayo.

Dolan's St Brigid's clubmate and regular full forward Karol Mannion is also axed which means there are call-ups for Nigel Dineen and Jonathan Dunning - both of whom were introduced as half-time subs the last day.

Corner back John Nolan and wing forward John Tiernan are also left out with Ray Cox and Eamon Towey taking their places. Towey's inclusion at left half back sees David Casey moving to midfield and Stephen Lohan pushing up to the half forward line.

The battle between Dublin and Roscommon spills over into the Handball alley this weekend as the race for All-Ireland Senior Singles Softball honours begins in earnest.

Dublin's Eoin Kennedy, takes on Roscommon's Damian Martin, in the Senior Singles at Mullingar Shamrocks today (2pm), while at the same venue, last year's beaten finalist, Walter O'Connor from Meath takes on Roscommon's Aengus Cunningham.

From the renowned St Brigid's Club in Dublin, Kennedy's father Eugene and grandfather Paddy are from Boyle, Co Roscommon and have both previously won All-Irelands. However, there will be no split loyalties for Eoin this weekend on either the football field or the handball alley as he hopes it will be a weekend to remember for the Dubs.

This year has already seen the 25-year-old claim All-Ireland Hardball and Irish Nationals titles - becoming the first player to win the Men's Open category at the Irish Nationals three years in-a-row. His opponent, Damian Martin, is playing in the senior ranks for the first time, though he is a hot tip for the future.

In a close-run mid-week match between Wexford's Tommy Hynes and the current One-Wall Champion, Mayo's Dessie Keegan, Hynes came out winner on 21-17, 21-19. With one of the favourites now out of the picture, other mouth-watering clashes for handball fans will include the duel between Kilkenny's legendary Michael Duxie Walsh - recently returned from retirement - and Wexford's talented handball/hurling dual star, Barry Goff.

Walsh has an unprecedented 38 All-Ireland Senior titles to his name, while Goff recently claimed the 60 x 30 Leinster Open title.

ROSCOMMON (SF v Dublin): S Curran; R Cox, M Ryan, J Whyte; A McPadden, F Grehan, E Towey; S O'Neill, D Casey; G Cox, J Hanley, S Lohan; J Dunning, N Dineen, G Heneghan.