Galway defender Morrissey set for spell on sideline after shoulder injury

Galway manager Henry Shefflin confirmed that the Sarsfields clubman will miss next Saturday’s trip to Wexford and could be out for several weeks.

Darren Morrissey of Galway goes down with an injury during the Leinster Hurling Championship Round 2 match against Kilkenny at Pearse Stadium in Galway. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

Galway corner-back Darren Morrissey looks set for a spell on the sideline after dislocating his shoulder in an awkward fall in the opening half of their draw with Kilkenny at Pearse Stadium.

Manager Henry Shefflin confirmed that the Sarsfields clubman will miss next Saturday’s trip to Wexford and could be out for several weeks.

“Unfortunately, it's a dislocated shoulder and he was in a lot of pain. Was still in a lot of pain at half-time. I didn't see the incident back, but he obviously fell on his shoulder.” 

Shefflin was relieved to get a share of the spoils against his native county in the end but felt they should have pushed on after a bright start against the wind in the opening half.

“Shortly after 20 minutes I’d have been disappointed with the result, after 72 minutes I’d have been very happy, so it shows that’s probably how it was.

“It was a very up and down performance from ourselves and we did well to grab an equaliser coming down the home straight to get something from the game, which I think was important.” 

He was pleased with the way his side did not panic and carved out a result just when it seemed that they were set for defeat.

“Absolutely, no different to last year’s performance in Nowlan Park, I knew this group now, this is my third year here, so I know that they very much want it and they try very hard, that’s what they get again today.

“The story of the game again was Kilkenny’s efficiency, which is always high, they were up at 70% while we were around 60% and that probably meant we were chasing the game at the end.

“If we had taken a few chances, we probably might have gotten ahead but that’s the brilliance of Kilkenny, the way that they go about it and perform like that every day, no matter who’s playing. We knew that in advance to the game and that is the way it transpired.

He wasn’t the least bit surprised at the power of the Kilkenny challenge despite missing several key performers for their visit to Salthill.

“I knew even more so what Kilkenny were going to bring because people had the narrative that they're down a few and this was Galway's game,” added Shefflin.

“That's dangerous, as we know, with the quality of the Kilkenny players. We wanted to approach it in our way. I thought for phases we did play our game but that's the way these matches go, there's swings and roundabouts.”