GAELIC GAMES:THE ANKLE injury sustained during a simple puck-around in his back yard looks set to leave Tipperary's Brendan Maher with a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
The full extent of Maher’s injury will be known later today when he undergoes further scans at Nenagh general hospital, in consultation with Tipperary team doctor Peter Murchin, but with definite ligament damage and a suspected fracture, it could be at least three months before he’s back to full match fitness.
The 22-year-old All Star midfielder, who was also named 2010 Young Hurler of the Year, sustained the injury at his home on Monday, when briefly losing his footing, then bringing his full weight down on the twisted ankle.
It presents further selection dilemmas for first-season manager Declan Ryan. Maher has been in excellent form again this season, continuing on from last summer when he won both senior and under-21 All-Irelands, but it could be the Munster final on July 10th before he’s even available once again for possible selection.
Unless he makes a rapid recovery, Maher is sure to miss Tipperary’s opening match in the Munster championship, their quarter-final showdown with Cork on May 29th, and should Tipperary progress, the semi-final meeting with Clare on June 19th.
Maher has been playing at midfield alongside Gearóid Ryan, better known as a wing forward during Tipperary’s All-Ireland success last year. However, Ryan now looks set for a more permanent run at midfield alongside Shane McGrath.
Séamus Hennessy is another option at midfield, but he’s sidelined for at least another two months with a knee injury. Séamus Callanan is also working his way back to fitness after breaking a collarbone playing for Limerick IT in the Fitzgibbon Cup earlier this year, and team captain Eoin Kelly will miss the next three weeks after he sustained a compound finger fracture against Offaly in Tipperary’s last outing.
Ryan, meanwhile, will tomorrow evening name his team to play Cork in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday, knowing a win for either team would still leave them with some remote hope of making the league final if they also win their remaining two games.
Galway will be without star forward Iarla Tannian for Sunday’s Division One showdown against Dublin in Parnell Park – although he’s simply unavailable rather than injured.
Tannian, who scored 2-2 in the dramatic victory over Kilkenny in the last round, is travelling to the US this weekend to attend the wedding of a family member – forcing Galway manager John McIntyre to look elsewhere to fill the full forward position.
The midfield pair of David Burke and Ger Farragher are also doubtful through injury: Burke suffered a shin injury playing for St Thomas’s in a club game, while Farragher picked up a dead led in training.
Galway footballer Michael Meehan is also awaiting an update on his ankle injury that has already ruled him out of all action this season. Meehan has not played since suffering a recurrence of the ankle injury in the championship replay loss to Sligo last summer – but is hopeful a medical clearance this week will allow him rejoin Tomás Ó Flatharta’s panel.
Without Meehan, Galway have failed to win a league match this year, with relegation now practically inevitable from Division One, with Dublin and Armagh to come.
