McCartan injury still problematic

Down will have an anxious wait before knowing whether their captain James McCartan will be available for next month's Ulster final against Armagh. He missed the surprising but convincing win over Tyrone at the weekend and although confined to bed by medical advice because of a back problem, McCartan prowled the sideline on crutches.

"There's no certainty," according to manager Peter McGrath, "James's injury is still problematic and he is still housebound. It's still in the realms of the unknown. I was talking to him this morning and he won't know until there are further tests."

There had been a mood of despondency last week in Down even before the news of McCartan's withdrawal was announced but now that the possibility of a lengthier championship run opens up, interest in the Down captain's injury has again intensified.

"It was viewed by the public with an air of resignation," says McGrath. "Down people would have been happy with a creditable performance. Most were happy once we got over Antrim. There was great anxiety not to get beaten in that.

"I couldn't see where all the doom and gloom was coming from before the Tyrone game. I could still see that if we played near our best, we had a great chance of winning. I could sense players were gathering themselves for a major effort."

Better news for Down is that 1994 All-Ireland winner Gregory McCartan is back in consideration for the Ulster final. The midfielder was available for a cameo appearance on Sunday but wasn't needed and the extra three weeks will further help his rehabilitation - although Alan Molloy and Brian Burns had an excellent afternoon in the middle.

Meanwhile, Galway are now happy that Eugene Cloonan and Nigel Shaughnessy will recover from knocks received against Roscommon in Saturday evening's Connacht hurling final. "We're confident the two of them will have a clean bill of health before the quarter-final."

Cloonan reiterated Galway's objections to the current championship format. "The backdoor is right for one side of the draw. The losing finalists in Leinster and Munster benefit from it but look at it from the perspective of counties who get knocked out in the first round - the Limericks, Dublins and the likes of ourselves and the Ulster winners.

"It's of no benefit to weaker counties. Teams should start their championship at the same time and play the same number of matches. I think teams which are beaten in the first round should be able to enter a round-robin with the winners going onto the quarter-finals."

Another matter causing some controversy for the Connacht Council is the increasingly farcical provincial hurling final. Roscommon were well beaten by Galway at the weekend and there is a widespread questioning of the value of the event.

According to Connacht Council secretary John Prenty, it's a matter for Roscommon. "If a team wishes to enter the senior championship, it's up to them. Say Kilkenny wanted to go into the draw for the Leinster football championship they'd be allowed."

The problem for Roscommon is that their hurlers are the only opposition in Connacht for Galway and the meeting between the counties is an annual mismatch with no opportunity for the weaker county to play anyone else in order to prepare for the sterner challenge of Galway.

Meanwhile, Joe Dooley is recovering from a dead leg and whereas the damage hasn't been fully examined, Offaly PRO Pat Teehan said the county is confident that the veteran will be fit in time for the meeting with Antrim on Sunday week.

Clarification of the All-Ireland quarter-finals draw sees the Galway-Clare minor match nominated as the opening part of a triple-bill on July 25th, followed by the senior clashes of Antrim-Offaly and Galway-Clare. The other minor quarter-final will be between Antrim and whoever loses the Kilkenny-Wexford replay. A venue for this match has yet to be arranged as Parnell Park in Dublin has been ruled out.

The first All-Ireland semi-final on August 8th will be between Cork and the winners of Antrim-Offaly with the second semi-final a week later between Kilkenny and the winners of Galway-Clare.

Waterford include two members of their senior team on the under-21 side to play Tipperary in the Munster semi-final at Walsh Park tomorrow evening. They are goalkeeper Brendan Landers, who will captain the side, and centre forward Ken McGrath. Five of the team which lost heavily to Cork last year are included.

Waterford's preparations have been hampered by the unavailability of James Murray and David Ryan who are working abroad and would be certainties to be included. The selectors have left a vacancy at full back pending a fitness test on Gary Cullinane who was injured in a challenge game against Kilkenny two weeks ago.

WATERFORD (U21 H v Tipperary): B Landers; A Kirwan, A N Other, J O'Donovan; S Curley, V O'Shea, S McCarthy; E Murphy, P Hammond; P Fitzgerald, K McGrath, E Bennett; N Curran, S Prendergast, B Wall.

TIPPERARY (U21 H): D Young; W Hickey, F Heaney, P Maher; F Costello, J Carroll, D Fahy; M Ryan, W Maher; J Keane, P Kelly, P O'Brien; M Kennedy, E O'Neill, D Browne. Subs: E Dunphy, H Flannery, R Flannery, G O'Grady, S Butler, C O'Shea, D Fanning, J Teehan, O Kelly.