Galway blow as Skehill sidelined

Galway goalkeeper James Skehill will miss the remainder of the Allianz Hurling League.

Skehill dislocated his shoulder during Sunday’s clash with Waterford and faces at least a month on the sidelines.

“We won’t know the extent of it until Thursday when he has further medical assessment but it looks like a minimum of three or four weeks,” said Galway manager Anthony Cunningham.

Skehill suffered the injury when he tried to block Shane Walsh when the Waterford full-forward scored the only goal in their 1-14 to 0-15 win at Pearse Stadium on Sunday. Galway will qualify for the league semi-finals if they defeat Kilkenny at Nowlan Park on Sunday but if they lose and Waterford defeat Dublin, then the Tribesmen will face Anthony Daly’s men in a relegation encounter.

Cunningham said: “It is a huge challenge but that’s what we are here for, to go at them. It will be a huge challenge at Nowlan Park and we’ll prepare well for it during the week and look forward to next weekend. For young players in a team that is developing, you can’t beat experience, or big day matches like league semi-final or matches like Sunday. You can’t coach experience, it all comes with playing these matches and those are the positions we want to be in.”.

Craughwell’s Jamie Ryan is likely to replace Skehill, with Fergal Flannery (Padraig Pearses) also in contention.