GAA:A DECISION on the fitness of Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson will be made this week, confirmed Kilkenny hurling manager Brian Cody last night.
Shefflin and Tennyson sustained cruciate ligament damage and were expected to miss the All-Ireland final against Tipperary on Sunday week, but both will be given a chance to prove their fitness.
“We’re trying to defy medical opinion,” said Cody. “Look at Dermot Earley in Kildare, he has a serious cruciate injury and, although he came off after two minutes (in the All-Ireland football quarter-final) he’s expected to play this Sunday (in the semi-final against Down). Look, it would take a miracle. It’s in the lap of the gods, but a decision will be made this week.”
Cody did state that the shoulder injury concerns of Brian Hogan and Tommy Walsh have now eased with both resuming training tomorrow evening.
Meanwhile, there is cautious optimism in Cork that captain Graham Canty will be recovered from injury in time for next month’s All-Ireland final against either Down or Kildare.
Canty was replaced at half-time in the All-Ireland semi-final win over Dublin, having aggravated the injury, a torn hamstring sustained in the quarter-final win against Roscommon.
According to manager Conor Counihan yesterday, the emerging prognosis is encouraging. “I haven’t seen the scan at this stage, but the view at the moment is that he strained it rather than pulled it or tore it again.”
Counihan said that the decision to start his captain hadn’t been a gamble. “He underwent a fitness test last Friday and came through, but there’s always an element of risk coming back from any injury.”
Forward Ciarán Sheehan, another who was coming back from injury – in his case a twisted knee – also picked up a reaction on Sunday, but his manager expects him and Canty to have plenty of time to recover and be available for the last week of training before the final.
A further concern is that the county will have a series of club fixtures at the weekend, although the above injuries will presumably rule out Canty and Sheehan.
There was less comforting news in Down where today’s scan results on the knee injury to captain Ambrose Rodgers are expected to confirm manager James McCartan’s apprehensions that the centrefielder will not be available for the weekend’s AllIreland semi-final against Kildare.
“There’s been no definite word from the specialist yet,” according to county PRO Ronan McMahon, “but we’ll hear tomorrow (Tuesday) and it’s not looking good. We’re expecting to hear it confirmed that it’s cruciate ligament damage.”
The team, which will be named on Friday night, will be Down’s first in the last four of an All-Ireland championship since 1994 when the county defeated Cork on the way to its most recent title.
In Kildare, a similar injury that has troubled All Star centrefielder Dermot Earley all season is expected to keep him out of the match, although that too has yet to be confirmed.
Earley left the quarter-final match against Meath in the opening minutes having aggravated the knee injury.
