Frustrated Kelly can only watch and wait

PITY poor Paul Kelly this week, one of those unfortunate players forced by cursed injury to the sidelines on the big day, trying to maintain a positive outlook as all around him the momentum gathers, the pressure grows, the adrenaline flows, and he is stuck in neutral.

Another Munster senior hurling championship begins, another magical meeting of Tipperary and Cork, and Paul – though he should be at the heart of the action – can only watch.

“The leg, the leg, the leg!” he intones, tapping the offending cast with the crutch. “Broke the fibula, my first game back with Mullinahone (after transferring from O’Loughlin Gaels in Kilkenny); I needed surgery, a plate, pins put into it to put it back on track.