GAELIC GAMES:CIARÁN SHEEHAN will miss the remainder of this season's football championship after a scan revealed the Cork forward tore cruciate and medial knee ligaments during Sunday's Munster football final defeat to Kerry in Killarney. The dual player will also miss Cork's Under-21 hurling campaign, including the Munster semi-final against Tipperary on July 15th.
“No, it didn’t look great,” said his football manager Conor Counihan yesterday.
Sheehan now joins another Cork forward, Colm O’Neill, in nine months of rehabilitation.
The incident occurred in the 39th minute when Sheehan’s leg was accidentally stuck under the body of Kerry defender Aidan O’Mahony. He was stretchered off the field and replaced by Fintan Goold.
During the same passage of play Meath referee David Coldrick was informed by his linesman of an incident involving Kieran Donaghy and Noel O’Leary.
Donaghy was yellow carded so no further sanction can be forthcoming.
Counihan was also able to confirm the late withdrawal of Paul Kerrigan, whose strong running and points played a significant role in Cork’s second-half revival, was only due to cramp.
All-Ireland champions Cork must again embark on the qualifier route, but at one stage better off than last year as they and the other provincial runners-up await their next opponents in round four on July 23rd.
“Obviously we’ve been down this road before so we know what’s involved,” said Counihan.
“Let’s just see what comes out of the pot. There will be 12 teams by then so there’ll be nothing easy.”
Counihan refused to draw comparisons with last year’s defeat to Kerry in the Munster semi-final replay.
“It is a different year, different teams and we are in a different place but we do have the experience of last year and we’ll carry that on with us.
“Look, it may have gone differently on Sunday. We had a good first seven or eight minutes when Paul Kerrigan went close to a goal and Donncha (O’Connor) was put through and possibly fouled.
“Kerry then got a lot of scores very quickly and we lost our focus before half-time, which cost us. There is certainly a lot of work for us to get things right again.”
Kerry also have the advantage of 2004 footballer of the year Tomás Ó Sé returning for the All-Ireland quarter-finals on July 30th/31st/August 1st.
Having been suspended at that juncture last season when Kerry lost to Down, the experienced An Ghaeltacht defender will have served his current ban this time around.
Paul Galvin, the 2009 footballer of the year, is another expected to return as he was seen warming up at Fitzgerald Stadium after a sustained struggle with a hamstring injury.
Elsewhere, Dublin manager Pat Gilroy will release his team selection for Sunday’s Leinster football final against Wexford tomorrow morning. The only member of the panel certain to be excluded is Michael Dara Macauley as the midfielder broke a bone in his finger in the provincial semi-final against Kildare on June 26th.
Kilmacud Crokes pair Cian O’Sullivan and Ross O’Carroll are nearing the fitness levels to be included in the match-day panel.
Wexford’s veteran defender Niall Murphy is another in a race against time to be fit for selection. Jason Ryan is expected to announce his team on Thursday night.
