No major concern from Rebels as Kingston and Cunningham forced off

Cork saw off Kerry in their season-opener in Tralee.

Cork selector Fergal Condon during the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League Group 2 match between Kerry and Cork at Austin Stack Park in Tralee, Kerry. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The Cork hurling management are not overly concerned about the injuries that forced Shane Kingston and debutant Ben Cunningham out of Thursday evening’s season-opening win.

Kingston pulled up with what appeared to be a groin injury two minutes into the second half, while newcomer Cunningham was only two minutes on the field when he too came to a halt because of injury.

“We must get them assessed. I’d say they will be back fairly soon,” said Cork selector Fergal Condon afterwards.

“Ben was just on the field and then had to come off again. He was unlucky.” 

Condon said Darragh Fitzgibbon, who dislocated his shoulder during a recent challenge game, will remain sidelined for at least another two to three weeks.

Cork are already planning without another key star in Mark Coleman, who is in danger of missing the entire inter-county season after undergoing surgery on a knee issue. Alan Connolly (shoulder), meanwhile, won’t be seen until the Munster round-robin, at the earliest.

“Darragh is getting a medical assessment this week,” Condon continued. “He dislocated his shoulder. We were lucky that Dr Paddy Crowley reset it on the spot for him, that was a big help in terms of recovery. I’d say he’ll be out for two or three weeks alright.” 

The Cork selector said the panel has done an amount of “stickwork” since resuming collective training and that the focus from now will be more on developing a style of play.

“We were a new management coming in, a new coach too. The approach was probably a bit different than what they were used to. From here on, we are trying to put our style of play on it. Up to this, we haven’t been because we have tried to get the skillset first. Now we are working on tactics and stuff like that. We have a lot to do yet.” 

It’s a workload that will be closely managed given the large number of Cork panellists who will be splitting themselves between Fitzgibbon and inter-county duties in the weeks ahead.

“We have 22 playing Fitzgibbon, which is a lot and shows there are an awful lot of young fellas on the panel. We’re trying to blend them in there with the experience that is there. It is going to take a bit of time, but we are out to give them every chance we can give them.”