Canty decision to be made on Sunday

THE Cork senior football selectors will wait until Sunday morning before deciding whether to play Graham Canty against Kerry in the Munster SFC final.

Team doctor Con Murphy said last night that it was too early to make a judgement, but Canty must be considered extremely doubtful.

“Graham aggravated a shoulder injury in a game between the full panel on Tuesday night”, said Dr Con. “We’ve had an epidemic of this type of injury this season. We are without Noel O’Leary because of a similar injury while John Miskella has recovered from his shoulder problem.

“This latest one couldn’t have come at a worse time, almost on the eve of a Munster final against Kerry.

“Right now Graham must be considered extremely doubtful, but we are hoping for the best.”

The selectors may opt to omit their captain given that there is at least one more chance down the road to reach the All-Ireland final.

Should Cork lose on Sunday, their next outing will be the All-Ireland qualifiers round three on the August bank holiday weekend.

However, Canty is desperately keen to play, as it was his dramatic winning goal in the semi-final against Limerick three weeks ago which set up Sunday’s final.

Meanwhile, Galway have had mixed fortune in their preparations for the Connacht football final on Sunday week in Castlebar against Mayo.

Former Allstar wing-back Declan Meehan pulled a hamstring at the weekend and is extremely doubtful for the clash with Mayo.

However, on the plus side, 2001 Allstar Kieran Fitzgerald, who missed the semi-final against Leitrim with injury, Niall Coyne and defender Diarmuid Blake have all made good recoveries from injuries.