U21 stars make Armagh squad

Six members of Armagh's Ulster Under-21 championship-winning side have been named in Joe Kernan's panel for the upcoming Ulster and All-Ireland SFC campaigns.

Fresh from helping the U-21s defeat Monaghan in last week's provincial final, Brendan Donaghy, Tony McClelland, Kevin Dyas, Kieran Toner, James Lavery and Stefan Forker have all been included in Kernan's senior squad.

The Armagh U-21s face Cork in the Cadbury's-sponsored All-Ireland semi-final this Sunday.

Clonmore clubman Paudie McCreesh is the seventh newcomer in Armagh's championship squad, whose preparations for their Ulster SFC opener against league finalists Donegal on May 27 are well underway.

Notable absentees from the squad include Kernan's own son Paul, Martin Ferris, Paul Forker and David McKenna.

Kernan will definitely be without the services of forward duo Ronan Clarke and Brian Mallon for the Donegal tie. The pair will not return to action until later in the summer following cruciate ligament operations.

Meanwhile, Kernan has expressed his dissatisfaction with the Ulster Council's decision to switch the Armagh-Donegal fixture to Ballybofey from its original venue of Clones, following representations from the Donegal county board.

Kernan said: "At Clones, we would normally have about 12,000 to 13,000 supporters, but now we are likely to have only about 5,000 to 6,000 because of the reduced capacity at Ballybofey."

Armagh are gunning for a four in-a-row of Ulster senior titles this summer, following their wins in 2004, 2005 and last year.

ARMAGH CHAMPIONSHIP PANEL: Goalkeepers - P Hearty, C McKinney. Defenders - F Bellew, B Donaghy, P Duffy, K Dyas, A Kernan, A Mallon, T McClelland, P McCreesh, K McGeeney, C McKeever, E McNulty, F Moriarty. Midfielders - P McGrane (capt), P Loughran, K Toner, C Vernon. Forwards - S Forker, P Keenan, S Kernan, J Lavery, M Mackin, D Marsden, O McConville, S McDonnell, P McKeever, Martin O'Rourke, P Toal, R Clarke, B Mallon.