Dublin hurling side has an experienced look

Fresh from their Walsh Cup final disappointment, Dublin will field a very experienced team for their NHL Division 1 opener against Waterford at Walsh Park (throw-in 2.30pm) on Sunday.

Former inter-county footballer Shane Ryan will hope to have an impact off the substitutes bench as the Dubs look to repeat their gutsy one-point win over Waterford in last year's league.

Back then, Anthony Daly's men staged a stirring second-half comeback - outscoring the Deise by nine points to four - to run out 0-15 to 1-11 winners.

Ten players remain in the starting line-up from that game, including team captain Stephen Hiney, midfield duo Johnny McCaffrey and Joey Boland and key attackers Liam Rushe and Alan McCrabbe.

The Dubs' student contingent - Tomas Brady, Oisin Gough, Boland, Peter Kelly, Rushe and David Treacy - have all been pencilled in to start this weekend, having lined out with their respective colleges during the Walsh Cup.

Daly said: "The Walsh Cup was beneficial to us. We got three good games out of it, but Division 1 of the National League will tell us where we're at.

"Hopefully with the couple of days rest, we'll be fresher this weekend against Waterford."

DUBLIN (NHL v Waterford) - G Maguire; N Corcoran, T Brady, O Gough; S Hiney (capt), R Fallon, M O'Brien; J McCaffrey, J Boland; P Kelly, L Rushe, S Durkin; D Treacy, K Flynn, A McCrabbe.

Substitutes: A Nolan, D Byrne, M Carton, S Lambert, D Curtin, S Ryan, J Kelly, P Carton, D O'Callaghan.