No decision made yet on veteran Ó hAilpín

GAELIC GAMES NEWS:NEW CORK hurling manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy says he won't make a decision on the playing future of Seán Óg Ó hAilpín until shortly before the start of the Allianz National League campaign.

On his appointment to the Rebels’ hot seat last October in succession to Denis Walsh, the Cork legend wasted no time in restoring Ó hAilpín, who had been controversially axed by the previous manager for the 2011 programme, to his training panel.

But Barry-Murphy says he will be delaying a decision on whether the Na Piarsaigh clubman will feature for the Leesiders in this year’s league and championship.

Ó hAilpín, who also played for Cork footballers for a number of years, will be 35 in May and made his senior hurling championship debut back in 1996 – against Limerick .

But the discarding by Walsh of the iconic figure, who captained his county to the 2005 All-Ireland senior hurling title, triggered a significant degree of resentment among many Cork supporters.

“We probably won’t finalise our panel for the league until we see at how the players fare in the Waterford Crystal Cup,” said Barry-Murphy, who is starting his second campaign as Cork supremo, having led his county to All-Ireland senior success in 1999.

“In this regard, Seán Óg is the same as every player we have on the training panel at the moment, and it is up to the players to make strong cases for themselves in matches and in training over the next few weeks.

“We play either Kerry or Tralee IT in the first round of the Waterford Crystal on the 5th of February, and hopefully we’ll get a few matches in the competition before we play our first league game against Waterford three weeks later.

“Prior to the Waterford Crystal we have a challenge game against CIT lined up, and hopefully we’ll organise one or two more as well,” added Barry Murphy, whose county finished runners-up to Waterford in the final of last year’s Waterford Crystal Cup.

Barry-Murphy confirmed that Ronan Curran and Jerry O’Connor have not recanted on their decisions to call time on their intercounty careers, leaving voids in the centre-back and midfield positions.

“Ronan and Jerry are gone from the panel but Ben O’Connor (Jerry’s twin brother) is still with us,” pointed out Barry-Murphy, who will also be able to call on Donal Óg Cusack as well as seasoned duo Tom Kenny and Niall McCarthy for this year’s campaign.

In fact, goalkeeper Óg Cusack is two months older than Ó hAilpín while attacker O’Connor will be 33 in less than two weeks. Next in line in the age stakes on the Cork panel are Kenny, who will be 31 in July, and McCarthy, who will be 31 in September.