HurlersÕ race to fitness
Date Published: {J}
STEPHEN GLENNON
SIX Galway players face fitness tests ahead of the Tribesmen’s Leinster senior championship opener against Wexford in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny this Saturday (7pm).
Defenders Ollie Canning (ankle), Donal Barry (dead leg), Conor Dervan (dislocated thumb and hip), midfielder Ger Farragher (dead leg), and attackers Niall Healy (ankle) and Richie Cummins (calf) will all undergo fitness tests at this evening’s training session at Kenny Park.
Already ruled out of the Wexford clash is Portumna centre-half forward Kevin Hayes with a hamstring injury.
Five of those who are to be put through their paces were unable to take part in the senior panel’s trial game last Saturday – part of Galway Hurling’s successful open day – while the other, Niall Healy, was forced to withdraw from the action with his injury.
On the plus side, Killimordaly’s Eanna Ryan showed no adverse effects to the ankle injury he has been nursing when introduced into Saturday’s in-house challenge match – in which, coincidentally, Portumna’s Joe Canning scored five goals and Beagh’s Joe Gantley finished with 2-5.
Still, the ongoing injury crisis – which has already claimed defender Fergal Moore for the year – has to be taking its toll on the Galway management team as they prepare for their Leinster championship joust with the Model County.
“It is a double edged sword,” says Galway boss John McIntyre. “On the one hand, you have genuine concerns about players’ fitness in the weeks leading up to the game, but, on the other, it has probably helped with the overall focus of the squad. Also, a little bit of adversity can often be good to keep fellows’ minds on the job.”
Indeed, given Galway has never defeated Wexford in senior championship hurling, they can take nothing for granted against a side which is also coming off the back of a National League triumph. In the curtain-raiser to Galway’s NHL final victory over Cork, Colm Bonnar’s charges recorded a 1-16 to 2-9 win over Clare in the Division 2 decider, so earning them a place in hurling’s top flight in 2011.
For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.