GAELIC GAMES:ALL-IRELAND hurling champions Tipperary have been rocked by the news 2010 young hurler of the year Brendan Maher has sustained a suspected broken ankle.

The full extent of the injury will be revealed later today following further scans but it is understood the Borrisoleigh star fractured a bone in a domestic accident. The 22-year-old will be ruled out for up to three months and if his recovery goes to plan, he could come into contention for a possible Munster final appearance on July 10th.

Cork full-forward Colm O’Neill will have to wait until next week before finding out the extent of the knee injury which forced him to go off in their win over Galway on Sunday.

The Ballyclough man went for a scan yesterday but the result was inconclusive and he will need another examination next week.

Cork manager Conor Counihan said they were concerned, especially as O’Neill suffered a cruciate knee injury a few years ago.

“It looked serious but hopefully it will not be serious and he will be back in action before long as he is a key man for us,” said Counihan, whose side kept alive their hopes of retaining the title with a 0-16 to 0-13 win at Pearse Stadium.

Kildare footballer Mikey Conway will be sent to Sweden for surgery next week in a bid to rescue his season. The attacking wing back was a star in Kieran McGeeney’s first season at the helm in 2008, but has endured a torrid time since after suffering cruciate knee ligament damage to both knees. He suffered a setback with cartilage damage and it has emerged he will go back to the surgeons who operated on his damaged cruciate for repair work.

“Mikey has to go to Sweden because he has a cartilage damage on the other knee,” confirmed McGeeney. “We didn’t want to do that earlier in the year. We just wanted him back doing a bit of running and kicking a ball.”