Controversy always on my mind, says Cork captain

CORK hurling captain Ray Ryan last night pledged his loyalty to embattled manager Gerald McCarthy, despite admitting that the ongoing controversy involving the 2008 panel is ‘always on his mind’.

Ryan declared that the new Cork 2009 panel are thankful to McCarthy for giving them senior intercounty opportunities and they are intent on not letting outside factors affect their preparations.

“They came looking for us at the start of the year, so when we got the call we were more than happy to answer it. Initially we thought it might be only for the St Colman’s tournament game. But it’s gone on longer than we expected. We thank them for giving us the opportunity to play for Cork and hopefully we can go on to do it a bit longer.