NICKY JOYCE HAS been dropped from the Galway football squad ahead of next month’s Connacht Championship opener.
Alan Mulholland named a 31-man preliminary panel last night as the Tribesmen begin preparations for their meeting with Roscommon on 20 May, but there was no place for Joyce who could not fully commit to the summer campaign.
The Killererin forward returned to the squad for Galway’s Division 2 league campaign after taking a year out from inter-county football last season.
While Joyce won’t be part of Mullholland’s initial plans, the manager confirmed that the panel was open-ended, paving the way for a possible comeback later in the summer.
“Nicky was with us for the league campaign,” Mulholland said (GAA.ie). “However he is not in a position to give a commitment at the moment to inter-county football and therefore he has been released from the squad.”
Galway will also be without the injured Conor Doherty and Fiontán Ó Curraoin when they meet Roscommon.
Galway squad: A Faherty, C Forde, C Doherty, C Bane, D Burke, D Cummins, D Blake, F Hanley, F Ó Curraoin, G Bradshaw, G O’Donnell, G Sice, G Sweeney, G Higgins, J Bergin, J Duane, J Moore, K Kelly, K McGrath, M Breathnach, M Hehir, M Boyle, M Martin, M Meehan, N Coleman, P Joyce, P Conroy, P Ó Griofa, S Armstrong, T Flynn, T Fahy.
