Derek Lyng rings the changes to Kilkenny team for Leinster SHC final against Galway
After ringing the changes for their clash with Wexford last time out, manager Derek Lyng has recalled a number of his key players for the showpiece occassion which throws-in at 4pm and will be shown live on RTÉ2.
Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Mikey Carey and Paddy Deegan will all make their return to the Cats' defence while Cian Kenny starts alongside Jordan Molloy in midfield and both Billy Ryan and Martin Keoghan come into the half-forward line.
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Cathal Mannion: 'A lot of people wrote Davy Burke off, even within our own county'
Kilkenny will again have to do without the services of Eoin Cody, who has again been ruled out through injury.
Galway have also announced their team and they make two changes from their recent five-point victory over Dublin.
Eanna Murphy and Kevin Cooney earn starts in place of first-choice goalkeeper Darach Fahy, who misses out through suspension, and corner-forward Anthony Burns.
Kilkenny: E. Murphy; M Butler, H Lawlor, T Walsh; M Carey, R Reid, P Deegan; C Kenny, J Molloy; J Donnelly, A Mullen, B Ryan; S Donnelly, TJ Reid, M Keoghan.
Subs: A Tallis, P Moylan, D Blanchfield, S Murphy, K Doyle, Z Bay Hammond, F Mackessy, H Shine, L Hogan, L Connellan, M Murphy.
Galway: E Murphy; P Mannion, Daithí Burke, F Burke; C Fahy, G Lee, TJ Brennan; S Linnane, David Burke; J Fleming, C Mannion, T Monaghan; C Whelan, B Concannon, K Cooney.
Subs: D Walsh, D Morrissey, J Grealish, J Ryan, D Loftus, R Glennon, C Cooney, T Killeen, A Burns, C Molloy, J Flynn.
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Irish Times
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a day ago
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The day Galway re-organised hurling's top table
It was an extraordinary rise, simply because the fall had been so spectacular. At the end of July 1973, Galway's hurlers lost to London in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Within two years, they had won the league and an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since the early 1950s. The achievement was notable at the time but 50 years in retrospect, it is of even greater significance. Since 1975, Galway, who had an at best patchy championship record – one All-Ireland and several final defeats – have been consistently at the top table, even if not always dining sumptuously. Next year, it will be eight seasons since the county last contested an All-Ireland and that is as long as Galway have ever had to wait between final appearances since the breakthrough of 1975 when they would lose in the final to Kilkenny's great team of the time. READ MORE A handful of players actually made it all the way from losing to London to contesting an All-Ireland. 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[ Galway rain on Cork's parade to claim All-Ireland senior camogie title Opens in new window ] All Ireland Hurling Final 1981: Galway's John Connolly gets past Eugene Coughlan of Offaly. Photograph: INPHO/ Billy Stickland From Division Two, they won the league, beating the big three in their knockout matches, Cork, All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and Tipperary. The manager also pressed on them the importance of analysing their game and the team's. 'I encouraged them to be self-critical,' he told Paddy Downey in these pages, 'and to be critical of each other when necessary but not in a hurtful way. I impressed on them that top-class hurling was more than a game, it was an art and if they aspired to be artists, they had no alternative but to practice constantly and develop all their skills'. An All-Ireland quarter-final against B champions Westmeath was the only championship practice they got before facing new Munster champions Cork, who had dethroned Limerick, in the semi-final. 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In what would become another recognisable trend, the lead evaporated and although the Westerners did well to keep it topped up, the match ended in a frenzy of one and two-point leads before they succeeded in closing it out, 4-15 to 2-19 before 27,020 spectators. There was no doubting the merit of the win, however, and Galway believed they would have won by more had the match continued for a while longer. Led by the exceptional displays of Seán Silke and Iggy Clarke in the half backs, their defence did enough to limit Cork's highly-regarded attack. It meant a first All-Ireland since 1958 when in an experiment, the GAA had been rotating the byes into the final so that Galway didn't have to play a semi-final in either 1955 or three years later. From that year on, the county had a largely fruitless – one match won in a decade – involvement in the Munster championship until 1969. Their relationship with Cork was different in the 1970s. 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