Wallace hot in the running to take the reins at Saffrons

JERRY WALLACE, physical trainer of the Limerick senior hurlers under now-departed manager Donal O’Grady, has emerged as a frontrunner to replace Dinny Cahill as Antrim senior hurling manager.

Wallace was the Antrim hurlers’ physical trainer under Cahill in 2010, when they scored an impressive victory over Dublin in the All-Ireland senior hurling series in Croke Park.

That win secured an All-Ireland quarter-final joust with Cork, the team Wallace trained to four All-Ireland finals in a row, from 2003 to 2006, and though the Leesiders won comfortably on the day, Antrim were competitive for much of the game.

Antrim GAA bosses are anxious to build on the good performances of last year in particular, with the win over a Dublin side who went on to contest this year’s All-Ireland semi-final against Tipperary offering them hope that they have a solid base on which to build for the future.

This year Antrim lost to Limerick in the qualifiers, 3-22 to 0-12 — a team trained, ironically, by Wallace.

A native of Midleton, Wallace left Antrim at the end of the season. Having begun his inter-county training career with Donal O’Grady and Cork back in 2003, Wallace was reunited with O’Grady in Limerick at the start of this year as they took over following the departure of Justin McCarthy.

O’Grady and Wallace steered the Shannonsiders to victory in Division 2 of the National Hurling League and to within touching distance of a Munster final place — they were foiled by John Mullane’s late match-winning goal in the Munster SHC semi-final.

With O’Grady confirming his departure as Limerick boss on Tuesday, GAA chiefs in the county look like they will also be on the hunt for a new trainer in the coming weeks.