Cats rocked as Fogarty suffers leg fracture
Fogarty is the biggest casualty with confirmation yesterday that he broke his leg in two places in a clash towards the end of the tie. The Emeralds attacker looks set to miss the entire Leinster championship campaign.
All Star midfielder Fennelly fractured a bone in his hand and was withdrawn at half-time while defender John Dalton suffered ligament damage to his ankle in the second-half of the 1-27 to 1-19 win and his participation in the showdown with Anthony Daly’s side is in doubt.
In the one piece of positive news for Kilkenny, forward Richie Hogan should be available despite having picked up a slight knock to his ankle in the second-half of the tie with Joe Dooley’s team.
But manager Brian Cody still faces a selection headache as only seven of his team that started last September’s All-Ireland final look set to be fit as Kilkenny bid to claim silverware in a competition they last won in 2009.
Key players like Tommy Walsh (shoulder), Richie Power (hip), JJ Delaney (hamstring) are all currently sidelined with injuries along with long-term cruciate injury victims Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson. Kilkenny’s options in the half-back line are particularly stretched with Walsh, Tennyson and Delaney the trio who started in that defensive area against Tipperary last September while Dalton, who filled the number 6 jersey against Offaly, all receiving treatment.
Meanwhile Paul Kerrigan has emerged as the latest injury doubt for Cork ahead of Sunday’s Allianz Football League final against Dublin in Croke Park.
Kerrigan injured his hamstring while playing a club league game for Nemo Rangers against Carbery Rangers on Saturday. Manager Conor Counihan already has to plan without defender Eoin Cadogan who is set to miss out through suspension after being sent-off in last Sunday’s week clash against Armagh while midfielder Aidan Walsh is ruled out after injuring his hamstring in Saturday’s All-Ireland U21FC semi-final defeat to Galway.
There was positive news for the Cork management, however, in that Paudie Kissane, Ray Carey, Paul O’ Flynn and Ciarán Sheehan all emerged unscathed from a club tie last night.
Kissane and Carey were both in action for Avondhu against Cork IT for whom Sheehan featured in a senior football championship tie in Fermoy.
Long-serving defensive duo Graham Canty and Anthony Lynch are both not set to feature in Cork’s matchday squad on Sunday despite continuing to make good progress in their recovery from injuries.
“They won’t be involved on Sunday but they are making very good progress”, says selector Ger O’Sullivan. “Anthony played a half an hour on Saturday in a challenge game against Sligo in Ardrahan in Galway, and came through it fine. “Graham is also doing well. They’ve both missed a lot of football this year but at this stage we’d be hoping that they’ve started to turn a corner and are ready for the season ahead.”
Meanwhile Derry forward Paddy Bradley will have to wait until later this week to assess the extent of the knee injury he suffered in a club game at the weekend. Bradley sustained the injury in a game for his club Glenullin against Bellaghy on Sunday and there are fears that he has become the latest high-profile intercounty player to tear his cruciate ligament. The attacker is set to undergo a scan to properly gauge the nature of his injury and determine whether his availability for this summer’s championship is in doubt. Derry open their Ulster championship campaign on May 22nd with a quarter-final tie against Fermanagh in Celtic Park.
Kerry midfielder Anthony Maher was yesterday given the all-clear in Dublin after undergoing a scan to ascertain the damage he suffered to his knee in a club game at the weekend.
Maher was forced off while lining out with his club Duagh on Saturday night but the injury is not as serious as originally feared.
Attacker Darran O’Sullivan did not feature for his club Glenbeigh-Glencar in league action on Sunday after suffering a groin strain in training on Friday night but that is not expected to rule him out of this weekend’s trip to Portugal for a warm-weather training camp.
Paul Galvin and Tommy Griffin have not travelled with the squad this week due to injuries while Micheal Quirke is ruled out with family commitments. It is also understood that two of the county’s brightest young talents Johnny Buckley and Paul Geaney are not part of the 30-man panel that are heading to Portugal.
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