Portumna star Leo Smith and Clonkill youngster Adam Price will make their championship debuts for Westmeath in Sunday's Leinster SHC encounter with Dublin at Portlaoise. Smith, who qualifies to play for the Lake County through his job as a teacher in Athlone, replaces injured captain Brendan Murtagh at centre forward, while Price is named at left corner back. In Murtagh's absence, Andrew Mitchell - who is restored to the starting line-up after missing the National League Division 2 final win over Carlow - will take over the freetaking duties, with Niall Kilcoyne, whose father David won an All-Star in 1986, the player to lose out. The defence is unchanged from the Carlow game, but Enda Loughlin is now at midfield with Pat Clarke switching to wing forward. Paddy Dowdall moves from wing forward to full forward with John Shaw switching to the right corner. Westmeath (SH v Dublin): M Briody; G Gavin, P Greville, A Price; D Curley, D McCormack, C Jordan; B Connaughton, E Loughlin; A Mitchell, L Smith, P Clarke; J Shaw, P Dowdall, D McNicholas. Tweet

Most Read Stories