A strange summer leaves some familiar faces absent

CHOOSING an Allstar selection before an All-Ireland final is like building a sandcastle at high tide: it’s fun at the time but you know it won’t last long.

Who would have bet that an August All Star team – never mind the real one a month later – could possibly be picked without a stake-holding from Meath or Sligo when we were still anticipating the four provincial finals last July? Think of it. David Kelly, Charlie Harrison, Ross Donovan, Graham Reilly and Joe Sheridan were just a few of the front-runners at the time.

Happenings since mean that none could take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the event of being omitted.