Cork delay decisions on Canty and Murphy

CORK WILL wait until tomorrow before deciding whether to use Graham Canty and Nicholas Murphy in Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry.

The two key players missed the All-Ireland quarter-final against Kildare. Canty was forced off in the Munster final against Kerry with a knee-ligament injury, and Murphy pulled a hamstring in training three weeks ago.

"We'll be taking advice from our medical people," explained team selector Ger O'Sullivan. "And we'll also have a kick-around in Dublin on Saturday evening, and that will give us a chance to see how Graham and Nicholas go in it.

"At this stage, we thought both players would be further advanced in their recovery process. But Nicholas started jogging on Sunday, and he kicked a few balls on Tuesday night.

"Both players are continuing to receive treatment on a daily basis, and improvement in players' condition can . . . be quite significant in a short space of time."

Even if the Bantry Blues clubman Canty and Carrigaline's Murphy are ruled out, however, selector O'Sullivan takes considerable encouragement from the strength of Cork's panel.

"In Noel O'Leary, John Miskella and Kevin MacMahon we have three lads who were regulars in last year's run to the All-Ireland final," he explained.

Because of injury, none of the trio were selected in the starting line-up for the Kildare tie.

But both wing back O'Leary and utility player Miskella, who had been nursing shoulder injuries, played in the second half of that game. And wing forward MacMahon, who dislocated an elbow, has now regained full fitness.

Understandably, the Cork backroom man feels his side cannot afford a repeat of the first half of the Munster final, when Kerry carried an eight-point advantage into the half-time break.

"We did extremely well to turn around that scenario into a five-point winning margin," remarked O'Sullivan.

"Our game plan didn't work out in the first half, and we reverted to a more traditional approach for the second half.

"But it would be a tall order to expect us to claw back an eight-point deficit again, and a question must also be asked about Kerry's state of mind for the second half of the Munster final."

Meanwhile, the former Antrim manager Jody Gormley and the ex-Sligo and Fermanagh boss Dominic Corrigan are among five candidates who have applied to take over the reins in Cavan.

The Breffni County board have asked SportsTracker, a Dundalk-based firm headed by the former GAA president Peter Quinn, to assist them with the appointment of a replacement for Donal Keoghan.

Interested candidates could apply via the company's website and five individuals have put their names forward.

Seán Kelly - a former senior player and underage selector with Meath - as well as Castlerahan's Tony Brady and Lacken's Terry Brady have also applied for the position.