Hogan ruled out of action

Talented Kilkenny hurler Richie Hogan has been ruled out of action for up to a fortnight after tearing his hamstring during a training session with the Cats under-21s last Sunday.

Hogan was hugely impressive as he bagged 1-10 for the Cats in their Division 1 National Hurling league triumph over Tipperary earlier this month, but watched on from the sidelines on Wednesday night as Kilkenny under 21's claimed an 11-point win over Laois in the Leinster Championship.

Under-21 Kilkenny manager Michael Walsh says that it was unfortunate to occur during what he termed a 'light training session'.

"It happened in training with us on Sunday. It was a light enough session but if it was going to happen it was going to happen," he said.

"But it's not too bad I think and they are hoping he should be back within a fortnight once he does everything right. He's dealing with the physios from Kilkenny Robert Lodge and Martin Phelan so they will decide what to do."

The Cats' next outing in the Under-21 Championship is a Leinster semi-final against Offaly on June 10.

Walsh is hopeful that the St. Patricks College, Drumcondra student will make a rapid recovery.

"He just has a slight strain in his hamstring. Hopefully he will be back in two weeks and all going well he should be able to play the next day," Walsh said.

"There's no doubt about it he is a huge player for us and you would miss a player of his calibre. But then it's good to see how you cope without him as well and I thought we did quite well. We scored 1-21 (against Laois) and you can't argue with that."