Limerick hurlers reel after loss of Keane, Tobin and Smith

LIMERICK’S senior hurlers have been hit a triple blow prior to the championship with the removal of Mark Keane and Pat Tobin from the panel and the retirement of Clement Smith from inter-county duty.

Former All-Ireland U21 medal winners Keane and Tobin fell foul of the team’s management following the recent League defeat by Wexford.

A county board spokesman, confirming that both had been disciplined, said the matter rested with manager Joe McKenna and his selectors: “It is up to them to decide if the players concerned will return. There is a growing confidence in the panel that in time it will all come right.”