Walsh faces fitness test for Kilkenny
The Kilkenny selectors await a fitness test this Friday evening on Tullaroan's young star Tommy Walsh, before finalising the number 12 position. Walsh scored the second Kilkenny goal in that semi-final win over Tipperary but was replaced shortly afterwards by clubmate Jimmy Coogan. According to reports, the recent training games in Nowlan Park have been played at championship intensity and in was in just such a game, last week, that Walsh suffered the injury that now makes him a doubt for Sunday. A heavy tackle resulted in a bruised hip, and last night was the youngster's first back in full training since the injury.
Reports suggest that he will recover in time but if not, Jimmy Coogan looks almost certain to be his replacement, though there are those who suggest that Coogan is actually better off sprung from the bench. Coogan first burst on the scene in last year's semi-final win over Tipperary, the game of the championship. Introduced as a replacement for Brian McEvoy in the 56th minute, within five minutes of his introduction the "who-he?" questions among the non-Kilkenny Croke Park crowd were shortly amplified as the strapping 24-year-old shot 1-1 in a one-minute spell, swung a game that to then had been very finely-balanced. Though he also scored a point in the final, that match was a more frustrating experience, and he was eventually replaced in the 54th minute, for Charlie Carter.
