Cummins' injury worry for Tipp in both codes

BRENDAN CUMMINS continues to cause anxiety for Tipperary hurling and football folk as he struggles to be fit for his weekend double bill.

His football colleagues are in All Ireland SFC qualifier action with Mayo in Cusack Park on Saturday night while his hurling team have a SHC quarter-final clash with Antrim on Sunday in Croke Park.

Yet a stomach muscle injury sustained in the Munster championship replay against Cork, makes the dual star doubtful for both games.

“It is looking very doubtful for me at the moment,” he said last night. “I did the damage in the drawn game, but the week’s treatment seemed to remedy the problem. However, the injury flared up during the replay and I had to withdraw at half-time. It’s touch and go if I’ll be fit to play on Saturday.”

Unfortunately for team boss Tom McGlinchey, Cummins is not the only concern and he will not be in a position to name a team until later in the week. Yet McGlinchey who played his club football with Clyda Rovers in Cork, still remains in a positive frame of mind, even in the aftermath of the heavy defeat by Cork in the replayed final.

“Don’t lose sight of the fact that we should have beaten Cork in Thurles the previous Sunday but for the two flukey goals they scored, and we don’t become a bad team overnight”, he said. “We got together on Tuesday and had a good chat about last Sunday. The lads themselves are at a loss as to what went wrong having played so well the previous week.

“There were several instances in the game where we slipped going for the ball and let it fall when we gained possession. It’s hard to put a finger on why that happened, except perhaps we were a bit nervous of the occasion.

“As I see it we were a bit unfortunate to meet a Cork team last Sunday that learned a good lesson from the drawn game and reproduced the form that beat Kerry in the semi-final replay”.

But what of the subsequent 48 hours, when the result was in doubt over the six subs debacle. It is an issue that he stresses is now in the past but added that he or his side never favoured seeking a replay.

“Many players felt they could not accept the title in the circumstances. From Monday onwards our sole aim was to focus on the qualifying game with Mayo next Saturday. It affords us the opportunity to play against one of the top eight teams in the country and test ourselves against them. While it would have been nice to win the Munster title, a victory over Mayo would go a long way towards erasing the defeat by Cork and put us into the last eight, something we have never achieved.

“ If Sligo can do it, I see no reason why Tipperary cannot follow suit. Hopefully, we can take a leaf out of their book”.