HurlingThe apparent conflicts within Clare hurling deepened yesterday as team trainer Dave Mahedy stepped down with immediate effect.

While Mahedy was insisting his decision was purely for practical reasons and his commitments at the University of Limerick, Clare manager Tony Considine was insisting that Mahedy was still on board and would be around for the opening round of the National Hurling League.

It suggests another conflict to add to that surrounding goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald, who opted out of the panel last month after a reported stand-off with Considine, and remains adamant he won't be returning soon.

Clare play their first league match away to Down this Sunday, although last night Considine was refusing to be drawn into potential implications for the league campaign.

Asked about Fitzgerald's continuing absence, Considine replied "no comment". Asked about Mahedy's position, he said "there was no problem" and "he would be on board for this weekend's opening league match".

Mahedy, however, confirmed to The Irish Times that he had stepped down as team trainer: "I'm just not in a position to continue," he said. "I just haven't got the time because of my responsibilities at the University of Limerick, it's just not practical. I did my last of the pre-season training sessions yesterday evening, but I won't be involved any more."

Currently athletic director at the University of Limerick, and overseeing the continuing expansion of the sports arena, Mahedy was seen as one of the key components of the backroom team Considine put together last November, along with selectors Pat O'Connor, Ger Ward, Tim Crowe and Ciarán O'Neill. Previously part of Joe McKenna's Limerick management team that stepped down after defeat to Clare in last year's championship, Mahedy has also had an advisory role with Munster rugby and is widely viewed as one of the most experienced trainers around.

Considine, however, must now press ahead without him, and clearly the timing couldn't have been much worse.

Last week Fitzgerald's Sixmilebridge club had called on the Clare County Board executive to sort out that particular conflict ahead of the league, but so far neither the manager nor the player appear any closer to a resolution.

Fitzgerald, if anything, appears to have hardened his stance, and on Monday evening met several other long-standing Clare players to further outline his position. It has been suggested that they, too, are considering their future with the county if the matter is not resolved in the near future.

In the meantime, an independent mediator has also been asked in to further open communications with county secretary Pat Fitzgerald.