Shefflin facing six months out

Kilkenny hurling legend Henry Shefflin is facing the prospect of six months on the sideline recovering from shoulder surgery, it emerged yesterday.

Shefflin, who picked up his eighth All-Ireland senior hurling medal last September in the Cats’ win over Tipperary, is to go under the knife to remedy a knock picked up on duty with his club, Ballyhale Shamrocks, in the Kilkenny championship.

"Henry injured his shoulder against O’Loughlin Gaels in the county semi-final," Ballyhale chairman Sean Reid revealed yesterday.

"He was able to play on that day, and he played against James Stephens in the final and the replay as well, but he’ll have to have an operation on it soon and he’s likely to miss out on at least six months as he recovers.

"That means we’ll be without him here in the club for the early part of the county championship, and Kilkenny look like they won’t have him at all for the national hurling league, because even if he had the operation right now you’d be talking about May or maybe June before he’d be right."

Shefflin, who will be 33 in January, has battled back from serious injuries in the past. He has recovered from two ruptured cruciate ligament injuries which necessitated operations in recent years, one in the All-Ireland final against Limerick in 2007 and the other picked up against Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final of 2010.

The Cats star resumed his intercounty and club career after both injuries, and even managed to line out in the All-Ireland final of 2010 just weeks after picking up the knee injury, though he was forced off before half-time in Kilkenny’s defeat by Tipperary.

The news will come as a headache to Kilkenny manager Brian Cody, particularly with the decision earlier in the week of James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick to leave the Cats panel at the age of 26.