Corcoran eyes early return for Cork

Cork can still expect to have the services of forward Brian Corcoran for their All-Ireland hurling quarter-final on July 24th. The shoulder injury sustained by Corcoran in the early stages of Sunday's Munster final win over Tipperary is not as serious as initially feared and should mend sufficiently over the next four weeks to allow him play at least some part in Cork's next outing.

Corcoran had played just 12 minutes of Sunday's final when he clashed awkwardly with a Tipperary defender. He received attention on the field, managed to rise again to score a point, but then went down immediately after and was replaced.

While the initial diagnosis was a fractured shoulder, further examination and an X-ray yesterday produced a far better diagnosis. Cork team doctor Con Murphy explained the outcome of the more thorough tests.

"There was nothing broken," he said, "and instead it's only damaged ligaments around the shoulder joint. It will require a lot of treatment but it is not as serious as first suspected. And I'd say he has a sporting chance of being ready for the quarter-final."

It's just over a year since the veteran defender made a dramatic return from retirement and reinvented himself as a forward, scoring one of the more memorable points in the All-Ireland final victory over Kilkenny.

The fact he remains in contention for the quarter-finals will bring much relief to Cork manager John Allen, although his replacement on Sunday - Neil Ronan - looked superbly sharp and able, collecting three points.

For Tipperary, meanwhile, there is now a five-week lay-off before their quarter-final on July 31st - and like Cork they won't know until July 9th exactly who they face.

The new quarter-final format has the Munster champions and the Leinster runners-up out on July 24th, and the Leinster champions and Munster runners-up a week later. The two top teams from Group One and Group Two of the new qualifier series provide the opposition - with the group winners playing the provincial runners-up, and the second-placed teams playing the provincial champions.

For now, however, there is still some uncertainty about those pairings. Limerick and Galway are poised to emerge from Group One, and likewise Clare and Waterford from Group Two, but it's only after round three of the qualifiers on July 9th, when those top teams collide, that the quarter-final picture will become clear.

In the meantime the round two qualifier fixtures have now been confirmed, and start with the group one meeting of Laois and Limerick, which has been set for Portlaoise this Friday with a 7.45pm throw-in. Galway will play Antrim in the other Group One match at Pearse Stadium on Saturday with a 3.30pm start.

Both Group Two matches are on Saturday, with Offaly playing Clare at Portlaoise (6.30pm) and Waterford playing Dublin at Walsh Park (7pm).

That leaves the remaining round of fixtures: Antrim against Laois, Limerick versus Galway, Dublin against Offaly, and Clare versus Waterford.