Blow for Cork as Goulding set to miss opening league games

Cork footballers will be without Daniel Goulding for the opening stages of their Allianz Football League Division 1 campaign as he is set to undergo knee surgery next week.

“I wanted to get it sorted as soon as I could,” the Éire Óg man said. “It only seems to be a minor problem with the knee, probably with the cartilage. But hopefully I can sort it out now and get back to full fitness.

“I’m probably going to be looking at six weeks out after it so I’d be looking at around mid-March to try to get back playing,” Goulding told The Score website.

It marks the second year in succession that Goulding’s league has been affected by injury after an ankle operation sidelined him until the Division 1 semi-final win over Down last April.

Meanwhile, Aidan Walsh’s long-awaited appeal against the rule preventing him from lining out for DCU, if successful, could free up Joe Canning and Paul Browne to line out for Limerick IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup.

The Kanturk All Star midfielder’s case is unlikely to be heard by the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) until next Monday at the earliest after a further delay.

DCU are set to begin the defence of their Sigerson Cup title the following day when they travel to UL.

Donegal goalkeeper Michael Boyle, who also studies at the North Dublin university, is also awaiting the outcome of the appeal against the rule which prevents students from representing their college in football or hurling if they have studied for six years or more or enrolled in more than two college courses.

Galway’s All Star forward Canning as well as Limerick midfielder Browne fall into the same bracket as Walsh and Boyle.

Limerick IT face UCD in Dublin in their Fitzgibbon Cup opener next Thursday and they will be paying attention to how the DCU pair Walsh and Boyle fare with the DRA.

Tipperary defender Seamus Hennessy is also precluded from lining out for DCU in the Fitzgibbon Cup because of the rule.