Coulter not giving up hope yet

Benny Coulter will find out on Friday if he has a chance of playing for Down in the championship this summer.

The Mourne attacker broke his ankle in a club game three weeks ago — which means he will miss an Ulster championship match for the first time in 12 years when Down play Fermanagh on Sunday week in Brewster Park.

Coulter was still on crutches yesterday as he helped launch the All-Star School of Football in Cookstown.

He gets the cast off at the Ulster Hospital on Friday when the ankle will be scanned to determine the extent of the progress.

“Hopefully it’s coming on and knitting well,’ said Coulter.

“Any time I put a bit of weight on it, it’s quite sore, but it was a clean break so it’s not bad in that respect.”

Coulter has never missed an Ulster championship match since making his debut in 2000 and admits he is finding the count-down to this year’s opener against Fermanagh on June 3 hard to handle.

“It’s a bit weird, I have nothing to focus on. I’m not really up for the championship at the minute, maybe because I’m not playing.

“I’ve been to all the Down training but it’s not the same when you know you’re not going to be involved in the first game.

“This is the time of year when everyone has a spring in their step and you’re just sitting in the physio room passing the time away.

“It will probably take until Friday, to see when I can focus on getting back. Hopefully I will get a bit of good news and get planning for the summer.”

He still harbours ambitions of playing some role this year in helping his county get back to the form that saw them reach the 2010 All Ireland final. “I definitely hope to play some part,” he shrugged.

Coulter is in good company on the sideline, however. Defender Dan Gordon had a scan on his foot last week and is also ruled out of the Fermanagh clash.

“Dan is probably a bigger miss than me I’d say,” was Coulter’s generous assessment of the Loughinisland defender.

“Look at the amount of games the likes of Ambrose Rogers and them boys have missed over the years, and I suppose I have been quite lucky.

“But it will be strange. I was trying to go the whole time without missing a championship match but that is obviously going to come a cropper in two weeks’ time.’