Injury less serious than feared for relieved Sheehan

KERRY football captain Bryan Sheehan has expressed relief that the ankle injury he sustained in Sunday’s McGrath Cup victory over Waterford wasn’t as serious as he feared.

A x-ray in Tralee General Hospital confirmed that the St Mary’s attacker had torn ligaments in his left ankle which will require a recuperation period of up to six weeks.

However, Sheehan admitted last night that his first instinct was that he had broken the bone in the accident clash at Fitzgerald Stadium.

“When I went over on it, I heard the snap and Aidan O’Mahony heard it as well. I feared the worst straight way and I was in a lot of pain. I just went up for a kick out with a Waterford fella and the two of us fell backwards. I landed first and he came down on top of my ankle and over my knee.

“But after a few minutes the pain eased away and I was able to get up. The doctors and physios looked at it after the game, and they were fairly confident there was no break.

“I was able to put some weight on it but you have to get the x-ray to be sure. It was a relief to find out nothing was broken. I’ve had a few problems with the left ankle before, chipping a bone in it in 2004 and doing the ligaments a few times as well. It’s a weak ankle, I had it strapped on Sunday but the body weight injured it again.

“I’m going for a scan in Cork. I’m on crutches at the moment but the pain isn’t too bad. I’m not sure how long I’ll be out but you’re talking four to six weeks anyway. I might be back doing straight line running after a few weeks, but I don’t know about competitive stuff. But thank God it’s only the ankle ligaments and it’s better to be happening on the 17th of January than the 17th of April.”

Sheehan was this month named captain but insists the lack of game time over the next few weeks is the biggest disappointment rather than the missed opportunities to skipper the side.

Sheehan is almost certain to miss Kerry’s opening two NFL Division 1 ties against Dublin and Cork, but should return in time for their March 7 clash against Derry.

“I always said that captaincy is just an extra thing. The most disappointing aspect now is that I don’t get to play.

“My focus for this year was to nail down a place in the team. Darran O’Sullivan was like me last year, he’d a great league campaign and he nailed his championship place down then. The captaincy is a great honour but my goal is to play in games. I’ll need to get my sharpness up to where it should be when I come back.”

David Moran also limped out of Sunday’s match after injuring his hip but it is hoped he will respond to treatment this week.