Dooley on the mend after ‘ugly’ ear injury

OFFALY forward Shane Dooley is recovering today after a minor operation in Tullamore’s Midland Regional Hospital, following an injury suffered in Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League game against Dublin.

Dublin defender Peter Kelly got a yellow card after the incident, which left Dooley, an All-Star nominee last year and one of hurling’s most promising youngsters, with a serious injury.

“He’s alright, he’s had it stitched up,” said his father Joe, who is also the Offaly senior hurling manager, yesterday. “I’d prefer not to comment on the incident itself, nor on the fact that the referee didn’t see fit to check on how badly hurt Shane was before talking to the other player. But it was an ugly injury. He went to the A&E but they didn’t want to deal with it there; the cartilage had been cut, the ear was hanging off, and they brought in a specialist to make sure that a proper job was done on it, to reduce the risk of permanent damage. He’s back in college in Limerick (today), but he will definitely miss next week’s game against Tipperary.”

Compounding matters for Joe Dooley and Offaly, earlier in that game against Dublin they had a player, Brian Mulrooney, red-carded for an incident that looked completely innocuous.

“Brian is only a young fella,” said Joe, “I don’t think he’s ever even had his name taken before. He had no idea what he was being sent-off for, and got no explanation either — we’ll be appealing that card, definitely. It ruined the game as a contest as it was an uphill battle for us after that. I know Dublin were very fit and strong, you can see the conditioning work they’ve done, and they were very mobile – they’re going to be a handful for anyone this year.”

The odds are stacked against them as they bid to retain their top flight status with Dooley’s injury and Mulrooney’s suspension weakening a side already missing several other stars.

“James Rigney had an operation last Saturday morning to insert a pin in the arm that he broke against Cork in the first league game – he’ll be out for another 12 weeks; Paul Cleary had an operation on an Achilles tendon last Thursday and will be out until early May; Joe Brady is having a hip operation and Derek Molloy is still recovering from his operation.”