ALL-IRELAND SFC NEWS:NEWS FROM the front line. Injuries and defections are a common part of championship warfare and at this stage of the season the walking wounded don't have time to recover for the next battalion charge.
Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney can scratch wing back Mikey Conway’s name from his thought process this week as strained ligaments, possibly worse, in his knee are expected to be confirmed by an MRI scan today.
Then there is the other type of injured player: not quite out but not quite in either. The man who fails to recover from a pre-championship wound but stumbles into the summer hoping it will come right. Eamonn Callaghan, with his persistent groin injury, fits into this category. Still, he remains an option from the reserves, where he was been effective in the Leinster final and victory over the valiant Wicklow (who clearly have no substitutes of their own) last Saturday night.
Kildare’s opponents this Sunday in Croke Park are All-Ireland and Ulster champions Tyrone and Mickey Harte’s crew are no strangers to chronic injury problems. There is always something holding them back but never managing to stop them entirely.
This week they have already lost goalkeeper John Devine with a dislocated shoulder in training, while Ryan Mellon and Niall Gormley are doubtful. Mellon has already missed the Ulster final victory over Antrim.
It does appear, however, that two of the leading forwards in Ireland this decade, Stephen O’Neill and Brian McGuigan, are nearing peak condition. Both have been cursed with a succession of injuries in recent years but O’Neill’s quick football brain was in evidence for Seán Cavanagh’s goal against Antrim while McGuigan came in late to slot a point.
Meanwhile, Cork football manager Conor Counihan will probably be without their leading corner back Anthony Lynch for Sunday’s quarter-final against Donegal. Lynch was magnificent in defeat of Kerry in the Munster semi-final, largely smothering the influence of Colm Cooper but a groin problem already ruled him out of the provincial final win over Limerick on July 5th.
“It’s certainly not looking very promising for Anthony with less than a week to go to the match,” said selector Jer O’Sullivan. “Unfortunately for Anthony and the team, his recovery from the injury has been very slow, and so far he has only been able to do a bit of light training.
“We had hoped that he might have been able to step it up a bit at sessions we had on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, but unfortunately that didn’t prove to be the case.
“If Anthony isn’t able to take a full part in the training tomorrow (Tuesday) night, then his chances of making the match will be very slim indeed.
“Unlike the Munster final, there is no backdoor available on this occasion, and so the intensity and pace of Sunday’s match will be far in excess of anything that we have experienced so in this year’s championship.”
Cork were the best team on view in the early part of the season, as proved by the defeat of Kerry, and they are buoyed by the availability of John Miskella and Michael Cussen, who both missed out on the Munster final due to knee and shoulder injuries. Noel O’Leary also returns after serving a four-week, one-match suspension following the red card received for his part in a brief scrap with Kerry’s Paul Galvin.
Finally, the revival of Waterford hurling is expected to continue tomorrow evening when they meet Clare in the Munster under-21 final at their own Fraher Field.
