Exiles face uphill battle against Leitrim

AS IF life isn’t difficult enough for the New York footballers, an injury crisis has been added to the list of exiles’ woes ahead of tomorrow’s Connacht SFC clash with Leitrim at Gaelic Park.

The usual complaints of a continuing player drain from the Big Apple and lack of match practice still apply, not that you will hear them from New York manager Paddy Kearney and his selectors Pat Scanlan and Willie Lowry. Yet Kearney now has to cope with the loss of some of the key players he did actually have at his disposal. Kearney has a quartet of fellow Kerrymen either missing or doubtful while he lost the services of goalkeeper David Hopkins over a player registration issue with the North American board.

Beaufort’s Damien Breen and Spa’s Ross Donovan will both be absent through injury while Glenbeigh midfielder Ken O’Connor and Beaufort forward Dan Doona, are both struggling with injury. Given their experiences with the Kingdom’s panels at minor, U21, and in Doona’s case, senior level, their absence would be another cruel blow to the New York cause.