Galvin will miss clash with Cavan

INFLUENTIAL midfielder John Galvin will be absent for Limerick’s vital National Football League game in Cavan this Saturday night.
The trip north to Kingspan Breffini Park is the first of the four remaining games as Limerick bid to remove themselves from the bottom of Division Three and away from relegation trouble.
The absence of the Munster Senior Footballer of Year, Galvin will be a severe blow to Mickey Ned O’Sullivan’s chances of snatching a win.
The Croom man is due to play for Castleisland basketball club St. Mary’s Team Garvey’s in a National League quarter-final at the exact same time as the NFL game underlights in Cavan.
Mickey Ned and selectors; Joe Redington and Paddy Ivess are likely to wait until Saturday to select their starting team.
The entire full-forward line that played against Tipp will be in action on Friday night in the Munster under-21 football championship - Ian Ryan, Ger Collins and Cormac Joyce Power.
Ryan and Collins have been Limerick’s top scorers in 2009 and they will most likely be asked to play two games in 24-hours.
Team captain Seanie Buckley could be set for his first start of the year - the Drom-Broadford man was introduced as a sub last weekend after his club’s extended club campaign ended.
Another back in contention is Pa Ranahan, who has returned to training after a spell in Australia.
Conor Mullane is also back in the plans and the St. Senans’ man could be replacements for the absent John Galvin.
While the odds appear stacked against an away win in Cavan, Limerick have enjoyed recent trips to Breffini Park. The last meeting of the sides in the league was in 2004 when Limerick secured a 0-11 to 0-7 win. Back in 2002, a memorable extra-time win in the All-Ireland Qualifiers was the launch pad for the Liam Kearns era.
The bookies make Limerick as 15-8 outsiders to claim a win.
This team responded to a poor showing in Louth with a superb win against Roscommon and will need a similiar turnaround in performance against a side that had their first league win against Down last weekend.

Jerome O’Connell