Brady in danger of missing Offaly clash

DUBLIN HURLING:DUBLIN'S PREPARATIONS for their Leinster hurling championship opener against Offaly in just over two weeks' time have taken another knock as full back Tomás Brady is in danger of missing out with a knee injury.

The Na Fianna player sustained the injury training with his club over the weekend, and has undergone a series of scans to determine the exact nature of the problem. While the more serious cruciate ligament tear is not suspected, it is feared Brady may have damaged the medial ligament, which would require several weeks’ rehabilitation.

It’s another worry manager Anthony Daly could do without as he looks to build on Dublin’s first league hurling title in 72 years. Defender and team captain Stephen Hiney is already ruled out for the rest of the year having torn his cruciate against Wexford in the earlier rounds of the league, in March – and in the meantime centre back Joey Boland, who had just returned from a foot injury, sustained a dislocated shoulder in the league final win over Kilkenny, which has ruled him out of action for between six to eight weeks.

Brady has developed into Daly’s first-choice full back, and for good reason: he delivered another solid performance, especially under the high ball, in the 12-point win over Kilkenny last Sunday week – and if he is missing for the Offaly game in Croke Park on May 29th then he won’t be easily replaced.

Fellow defender Oisín Gough is also likely to require surgery for a shoulder problem at some stage, although he is expected to put this off until the end of the championships.

The injuries to Hiney, Boland and now Brady is at least balanced out somewhat by the fact David Treacy and Maurice O’Brien – who recently returned from cruciate and ankle injuries respectively – came off the bench in the league final and showed no ill-effects of their lay-off.

Brady was due to play for Dublin in Sunday’s commemorative challenge against Tipperary in Athy, which is being staged to commemorate the 1908 All-Ireland hurling final played at Geraldine Park between the same two counties.

Daly was intending to field the same Dublin team that beat Kilkenny in the league, with the exception of Boland – although Brady won’t now play either.

Martin Quilty was named in place of Boland, but no replacement has been announced yet for Brady.

Cashel native Ryan O’Dwyer will also line out against his native Tipperary, fresh from his man-of-the-match performance in the league final.

The Leinster Council, meanwhile, have yet to announce a support game to Dublin’s championship meeting with Offaly. As expected this fixture was officially switched from Parnell Park to Croke Park to accommodate the surge in demand for tickets in the wake of Dublin’s league triumph, with a throw-in time of 2pm.

This suggested the possibility of an additional fixture, but 2pm was always the allocated time slot as the game had already been earmarked for live television coverage – and at this stage an additional intercounty championship fixture as part of the same billing has been ruled out.