Counihan hails departing duo

CORK boss Conor Counihan believes the decision of John Hayes and Kieran O’Connor to opt out of the Rebels football setup is indicative of “the enormous sacrifices” now required to compete at inter-county senior level.

Carbery Rangers attacker Hayes and Aghada defender O’Connor both informed Counihan at the end of last week that they had decided to walk away from the county team and it follows the departure of goalkeeper Paddy O’Shea and Hayes clubmate Kevin McMahon earlier this month.

“It’s a difficult place to be as senior county players on the fringes of a panel. That’s the way it’s going and it just shows the enormous sacrifices that need to be made to play at this level,” he said.

“Understandably players start to look at the balance as regards their life and work.”

Hayes featured in Cork’s opening Allianz FL Division 1 league win over Kerry last month but has not seen game time since while O’Connor has been sidelined with injury to date this season.

Hayes came on as a substitute in last year’s All-Ireland final but has not started a championship game for Cork since the 2008 All-Ireland semi-final replay defeat to Kerry while O’Connor last played for Cork in championship in the 2009 All-Ireland decider. Counihan paid tribute to both players’ contributions to the county setup.

“On a personal level, they were great people to deal with and I’d like to thank them for what they did while I was a manager. They also made great contributions to previous managers. They’ve made their decision and I fully understand that. I wish them both well in the future.”

Counihan believes the challenge is now for new players to force their way into the reckoning and match the standards set by those who have departed. Sean Kiely, David Goold, James Fitzpatrick, Kevin O’Driscoll and Denis O’Sullivan are some of the new Cork faces who have been exposed to inter-county action in this spring’s league campaign.

“It’s certainly great that we have new blood coming through to the panel and they all want to get action. But there has been a high standard in terms of commitment and effort set by those who have left the squad. The challenge is for new guys to get up to that level and see if they can make an impact.”

Meanwhile the GAA Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) have granted the Ulster Council an extension of a week for their representatives in the All-Ireland U21 football championship semi-finals. The winners of the Ulster championship were due to meet either Wexford or Longford in the All-Ireland semi-final on April 16 but the delay in completing the quarter-final between Tyrone and Down, who will meet in a second replay in the Athletic Grounds tomorrow night, has resulted in the provincial final being put back until April 13.

Given the winners of that game would then have only three days to prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final showdown, the Ulster Council made the request to the GAA fixture-making body to reschedule the game for April 23.

The other semi-final between the Munster champions (Cork or Kerry) and the Connacht champions (Galway or Roscommon) will still take place on April 16.