Same again for Offaly
Offaly manager Emmet McDonnell has kept faith with the side which beat Tipperary last time out for Saturday's Allianz Football League Division 4 final against Limerick at Croke Park (throw-in 5pm).
Anton Sullivan retains his starting berth at left half-forward after the Rhode clubman earned a late call-up for the game against Tipperary.
Offaly last featured in the Division 4 decider in 2008, when they beat Tipperary by 2-13 to 0-12 in the final at O'Moore Park in Portlaoise.
Current captain Niall McNamee and his brother Alan, Paul McConway, Shane Sullivan and Brian Darby all featured in the Offaly team that afternoon and are included by McDonnell for this weekend's clash.
Despite being in his debut season as Offaly manager, McDonnell has already had managerial involvement in a Croke Park decider, having taken charge of the St. Mary's Edenderry side that claimed All-Ireland 'A' Colleges honours last year.
"I was involved with St. Mary's for the last five or six years so I knew a lot of the lads, knew the potential that was there," he told the Irish Examiner.
"It was just a question of getting the preparation right. All we've done is try to create a professional set-up and the players have bought into it completely. It hasn't been difficult, really."
McDonnell has seen a tremendous turnaround in Offaly's fortunes in just a short few months.
"Offaly won two games all of last year - one O'Byrne Cup and one league. This year we've already won ten.
"You try to get competitive, get used to winning, then you can start to open up a bit and hopefully we will.
"We're looking forward to getting to Croke Park and playing open football and that's the way Limerick like to play anyway."
Offaly (NFL v Limerick): A Mulhall; P McConway, S Sullivan, B Darby; E Carroll, S Pender, M Brazil; A McNamee, R Dalton; G Guilfoyle, B Connor, A Sullivan; N Darby, N McNamee, K Casey.
