Cork sweat on Goulding
Goulding, man of the match in last year’s All-Ireland final victory over the same opponents, damaged ligaments in his right ankle in the first half and left Croke Park on crutches.
Manager Conor Counihan described the problem as “a pretty minor ankle strain” but the Éire Óg star is set to meet with a specialist for results of a scan.
Cork will be anxious their quarter-final is Sunday and not next Saturday, to ensure Goulding has the best possible chance of playing.
The All-Ireland champions have already lost Ciarán Sheehan, Colm O’Neill and John Hayes from their attack this season and it has been confirmed that young Nemo Rangers corner-forward Barry O’Driscoll sustained a fractured jaw on Saturday at Croke Park and will be out of action for a number of weeks.
Meanwhile, Dublin County Board chairman Andy Kettle believes Kerry have got the pick of the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final draw as his own county are left having to wait another week to play their knock-out game.
After the Kingdom were drawn to face Limerick, a team they beat by 11 points in last month’s Munster semi-final, Kettle was left ruing the Leinster champions’ luck as they were paired with the winners of Tyrone and Roscommon.
That fourth round qualifier is likely to be played as the under-card to one of the All-Ireland quarter-finals with the delayed last-eight game being staged as a stand-alone fixture on Saturday, August 6. “There is no disrespect to Limerick but any of the provincial champions would have preferred to be playing them,” said Kettle.
“The draw we have got is not the one we had hoped for. It’s no way ideal and Tyrone or Roscommon will be coming off a good win.”
Dublin manager Pat Gilroy was keener to look on the brighter side of his team’s fate.
“It is what it is and there is nothing we can do about it,” he told the Irish Examiner. “We have to look at the positives. We have a couple of injuries and they should be cleared up with the extra week.”
Kerry chairman Jerome Conway dismissed the suggestion Jack O’Connor’s side had got the rub of the green in the draw staged by GAA president Christy Cooney and Munster Council chairman Sean Walsh at Semple Stadium. “We played them in the Munster championship some weeks ago but they’re going to be a totally different team this time round.
“They were missing Stephen Lucey but now that the hurlers are out I’d presume he will be available to them again. They have reached an All-Ireland quarter-final for the first time and they have nothing to lose and they’re going to throw everything at us so we have to be prepared.”
However, Conway admitted the presence of Cork on the same side as Kerry in the draw is an intriguing prospect. “Cork being on our side makes things very interesting. It’s another part of the war, isn’t it,” he laughed.
Also on Dublin’s side of the draw, Donegal face Kildare in what should be an exciting battle of minds between Jim McGuinness and Kieran McGeeney.
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