Kilkenny stars in race to be fit for final

GAELIC GAMES:FOR ALL that is being said about the strength and depth of the Kilkenny hurling panel, the loss of both Henry Shefflin and Brian Hogan would unquestionably weaken the chances of them winning that fifth successive All-Ireland title on September 5th – and right now the prospects of them making it are not looking good.

Both players will later today undergo a scan on the injuries sustained in Sunday’s comprehensive semi-final win over Cork: Shefflin retired after 26 minutes after falling awkwardly on his left knee, and the big fear there is a recurrence of the cruciate ligament damage that forced him out of the 2007 All-Ireland final; while Hogan retired on 15 minutes after receiving a heavy blow to his right shoulder, with similar fears of a repeat of the dislocation which sidelined him for much of last summer.

Even if the injuries aren’t as bad as being suggested, both players will still face a race against time to be fully fit for the final in just under four weeks’ time, as some period of rehabilitation is inevitable.

“Neither of those players would go off easily,” commented Kilkenny manager Brian Cody. “We’re hoping things aren’t as bad as they seemed, but things have to be assessed obviously over the next couple of days.

“They’re serious players and it’s only a few weeks until the All-Ireland, so we’ll be doing everything we can to make sure they are fit. Brian has hurt his shoulder and Henry has hurt his knee, but that’s the only information that we have at the moment.”

The process of getting them fit actually began yesterday when both players underwent a cryotherapy session – the sort of “deep freeze” treatment.

This involves just a few minutes in a chamber with temperatures of minus 110 Celsius, believed to make an instant impact of the recovery process of such acute sporting injuries.

Shefflin’s injury actually occurred in almost the exact same area of Croke Park where he sustained the dreaded cruciate damage in the 2007 final, against Limerick, thus forcing him to retire at half-time, and spend almost six months undergoing the necessary recovery process.

His replacement on Sunday, Martin Comerford, didn’t waste any time in filling in, firing over a difficult point with his first touch of the game, and as irreplaceable as a player like Shefflin normally is, there is some adequate back-up nonetheless.

Hogan’s loss at centre back could be more of a concern, given the absence already of John Tennyson, who is out for the rest of the season after sustaining a knee injury in training in the build-up to the Sunday’s game.

More definite news on Shefflin and Hogan should be known later today.

Meanwhile, the Cork football management will this week welcome back dual defender Eoin Cadogan, who lined out for the hurlers on Sunday but was always intent on returning to football duty no matter what the outcome.

Cadogan had made hurling the priority in recent weeks, but is almost certain to feature for Cork at some stage in their All-Ireland football semi-final against Dublin on Sunday week.

But in the meantime doubts persist about the availability of defender Graham Canty and forward Ciarán Sheehan.

Canty pulled his hamstring in the second half of the quarter-final win over Roscommon last Sunday week, while Sheehan picked up a knee injury in the closing stages of the same game.

Canty has been told his injury will take between four to six weeks to heal, while the diagnosis for Sheehan is even worse, with an operation now likely.

“First off, it’s a steady process,” says Sheehan. “Things are going well in rehab, I’ve been doing a lot of gym work for the last while, I’ll be in the gym every day for the next two weeks. Things are recovering quickly enough, so I’m hoping to be back for the Dublin game, I’m just going to see how things pan out.”

For now, at least, the Cork management have not ruled out either player.