Donaghy and Young on doubtful list for Kingdom

KIERAN DONAGHY is rated only 50/50 for Kerry’s opening championship game of the season against Clare in Killarney on Sunday while the chances of defender Killian Young featuring are even less.

Young popped an AC shoulder joint in a trial game at Lixnaw last week while Donaghy is still trying to shake off a knee injury sustained on county league duty with Austin Stacks some weeks back.

Should he be deemed unfit by manager Pat O’Shea, Tommy Walsh is likely to deputise as he did for the NFL tie against Laois.

Young, who was named Young Player of the Year in 2007, has not taken part in any physical work since suffering his own setback. A final decision will be made on both players when the team is named tonight.

The other Kerry players who had been carrying knocks — including midfielder Seamus Scanlon, captain Paul Galvin, Declan O’Sullivan and Bryan Sheehan — are all available for selection.

Meanwhile, Mayo forward Conor Mortimer is hopeful that he will overcome a quad muscle injury prior to Mayo’s opening game of the campaign against Sligo in Castlebar on Sunday week.

The Shrule-Glencorrib clubman sustained the injury five weeks ago, aggravated it playing for the club in the county championship three weeks later and carried it with him on the team’s training week in Portugal.

He returned to training on Tuesday evening and said yesterday the recovery was coming along “slowly but surely”, although it will be the end of the week before a more accurate prognosis can be made.

“We had a club game there at the weekend that I didn’t play in. I wasn’t right. I played in a club game a couple of weeks before that and just made it a bit worse. Time will tell. I’ve been getting treatment on it.”

Mayo will be the last of the 33 counties to launch their championship campaign when they face the Connacht champions on their own turf on June 22. It will have been 10 weeks since their last competitive game.

John O’Mahony’s players have subsisted on a diet of club matches and challenge games since but Mortimer isn’t concerned that his recent absence from both those scenes will stand against him come Sunday week.

“I wouldn’t be too bad. I can do a lot on the bike and rowing machine. Actual match sharpness is what you would be missing but I did the last session at training so I should be okay by the end of the week.

“If I wasn’t 100% I wouldn’t go out and play. There is no point in hurting it again. If you hurt it again you could be out for four or five weeks and you could miss most of the championship.”