Kelleher gets red card from Dublin County Board

THE Dublin County Board last night announced that Humphrey Kelleher is no longer the Dublin senior hurling manager.

In a statement, the board said: “we would like to thank Humphrey for his time, dedication and enthusiasm during a very difficult time for Dublin hurling. But we have been forced into taking this action to arrest the slide in the team’s fortunes and to, hopefully, protect our status among the tier one counties participating for the Liam McCarthy Cup.”

Former Kildare star Brian Lacey will be the star attraction when he makes his debut for Tipperary in Sunday’s Bank of Ireland Munster SFC quarter-final against champions Kerry at Semple Stadium, Thurles.

A native of Tipperary town, Lacey played his club football with Arravale Rovers before moving to Kildare.

Lacey will line out at centre-back and also making his senior championship debut will be left-corner back Peter King from Ballina.

Meanwhile, David Glennon and Patrick Mulvihill will make their championship debuts for Westmeath in Sunday’s Leinster SFC against Kildare at Croke Park.

There are three personnel changes from the Leinster final-winning team, with Donal O’Donoghue, Paul Conway and Brian Morley absent. O’Donoghue recently returned to training having completed exams, while Conway is also included in the subs following recovery from operations on both shoulders. Morley opted out of the panel at the start of the season.

Down have named an unchanged team for their Ulster hurling semi-final replay with Derry at Casement Park on Sunday, but Derry will be without team captain Gary Beggs, who is abroad on holidays. Midfielder Jason Stokes will miss Limerick’s Munster SFC semi-final against either Kerry or Tipperary on June 19.

There are fears that the Drom Broadford player, out of action with a leg injury for the past eight months, may not play again this season. An appeal on behalf of Monaghan’s Rory Woods, who was suspended for 12 weeks by the Games Administration Committee, was not overturned by the Central Appeals Committee.

WESTMEATH (SF v Kildare): G. Connaughton; J. Davitt, D. Healy, J. Keane; M. Ennis, D. Heavin, D. Kilmartin; R. O’Connell, D. O’Shaughnessy; A. Mangan, F. Wilson, P. Mulvihill; David Glennon, Denis Glennon, D. Dolan.

TIPPERARY (SF v Kerry): P. Fitzgerald; D. Byrne, N. Curran, P. King; P. Morrissey, B. Lacey, R. Costigan; K. Mulryan, F. O’Callaghan; G. Burke, L. England, P. Cahill; B. Hickey, D. Browne, B. Mulvihill.

DOWN (SH v Derry): G. Clarke; J. Clarke, S. Murray, C. Coulter; C. Clarke, G. Savage, S. Wilson; G. Adair, P. Monan; E. Clarke, G. Johnson, B. McCourty; M. Coulter, E. Trainor, S. Clarke.