Pauric Mahony will recover fully, says Derek McGrath

Waterford manager Derek McGrath has backed Pauric Mahony to show resilience and make a full recovery from a season-ending injury.

On his 23rd birthday, the Déise top scorer faces an operation on his broken tibia at lunchtime today in University Hospital Waterford. The WIT student will spend the summer on the sidelines after sustaining the clean shin break on club duty for Ballygunner on Saturday night.

Mahony had contributed nine points for the Gunners in their championship opener against Ballyduff Upper, before he received a late challenge as he played a pass to Stephen Power for their second goal on 46 minutes. The game was stopped for 17 minutes and an ambulance rushed to the scene. Play was resumed and the champions recorded a 2-18 to 0-9 win.