Peter McNamara

Football news

PATRICK KELLY will be fit to play in Cork’s All-Ireland quarter-final tie in August despite suffering with a troublesome hip problem that kept him out of last Sunday’s Munster final triumph.
Kelly revealed he had been struggling with the injury in the lead-up to the victory over Clare, but having seen the specialist at CUH yesterday has declared himself fit to feature in the All-Ireland series allaying fears that he might miss out on the business end of Cork’s assault on Sam Maguire.

“The problem was building up in training for about two or three weeks beforehand so I said it would be best not to take a chance on it.

“It was getting sorer and sorer so I went to the specialist yesterday and I will be getting an injection on it this Friday which is supposed to alleviate the pain for six to eight weeks. After I get the injection I’ll then let it settle and see how it is later on.

“I might need a second injection at that stage but hopefully not, and it is something I can then deal with at the end of the season.

“Thankfully it’s not too serious but it was just a case of nipping it in the bud and I’ll be fine to play in the All-Ireland quarter-final and for my club in the local championship,” he explained as Ballincollig prepare to face Carbery Rangers in the SFC for the fourth year running.

The records will show the Rebels had 12 points to spare last Sunday but Kelly appreciates there are areas that need tweaking in preparation for the challenge Cork will face in Croker.

“We got a good start against Clare which helped us to settle, but we got cleaned out on kick-outs and stuff like that and our performance wasn’t spectacular but we have time to improve on those things.”
 See P50 for more.