GAA:DUBLIN WILL have to plan without full back Tomás Brady who will miss the rest of the season with a cruciate ligament injury. The bad news emerged yesterday after Saturday evening's Leinster semi-final win over Galway during which Brady had to leave the field.

“We just got the news,” said manager Anthony Daly, “and it’s terrible for him. It’s a definitive injury so we just have to get on with it without him. It’s strange but in the league final Kilkenny had all the injuries and we had our strongest panel of the year since Stephen Hiney’s injury.

“Now Kilkenny have the players coming back and we’re beginning to struggle.”

Brady had just returned to the side having recovered from an injury in his other knee, only to sustain another serious injury. It means that the league winners, chasing their first Leinster title in 50 years against holders Kilkenny in Croke Park next month, are currently without half of their first-choice defence.

Hiney is also out for the year having sustained a similar cruciate injury while centre back Joey Boland is currently recovering from a dislocated shoulder, but Daly is hopeful that he can be fit in time for July 3rd.

“He’s done plenty of running but the problem with that injury is that you can’t hurl with it and he’d be very short of practice going into a match against Kilkenny.”

There was further bad news for Daly when he discovered that corner forward and former All Star nominee David Treacy will also be unavailable for the Leinster final.

“He has a grade two hamstring tear,” said Daly of the Cuala player, who has been coming back from long-term injury, and has been played sparingly since the spring, coming on at the end of the league final.

In Brady’s absence Peter Kelly will probably continue at full back after his excellent display filling in there on Saturday and coping well with Joe Canning.

“Peter did really well,” according to his manager. “He’s very quick, he’s strong and tall and is an excellent hurler. He had a great league final at corner back. Sometimes we make too much out of specialist positions.”

It has also emerged that centre forward Ryan O’Dwyer, who was red carded on Saturday for striking, underwent surgery yesterday morning after sustaining serious damage to his right ear during last Saturday’s match.

He was withdrawn from the action twice in the first half before his day ended prematurely with a red card in the second half.

The former Tipperary senior player was operated on by cosmetic surgeon Brian Kneafsey at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown yesterday.

In a procedure that lasted over two hours, the Kilmacud Crokes player was treated after his ear was split during the course of the Galway game.

O’Dwyer is facing up to the prospect of missing the Leinster final through suspension after he was sent off following an incident with Shane Kavanagh.

Meanwhile in Tipperary, full-back Paul Curran has eased injury fears after he limped out of the action in the final minute of last Sunday’s Munster SHC semi-final victory over Clare.

Pádraic Maher was revealed to have been playing through the pain barrier after reportedly sustaining a fracture in his hand during the quarter-final victory against Cork.

Maher had reported some soreness after the victory over the Rebels but the full extent of the damage only came to light recently and his training was limited in the build-up to the Clare tussle.

Both Maher and team captain Eoin Kelly have been protecting hand injuries.

Their injuries will now be monitored before the Munster SHC final against Waterford on July 10th in Páirc Uí Chaoimh but Curran has revealed that his problem at the end of the Clare game was nothing worse than cramp.

Curran said: “I’m fine. I just cramped up.”