Another blow for Galway as Bradshaw decides to quit football panel

Galway defender Gareth Bradshaw has decided to take a break from intercounty football.

The 26-year-old – who captained the Tribesmen in the absence of Finian Hanley for their record 4-16 to 0-11 championship defeat against Mayo last month – has opted out of Galway training.

Having being sent off in the Mayo game, Bradshaw would have missed the first round of the All-Ireland football qualifiers through suspension.

Meanwhile, Kerry boss Eamonn Fitzmaurice may have been happy with the way his troops performed on Sunday but he is more than annoyed at the way so many seemed to have sideline access yet his two selectors Mikey Sheehy and Diarmuid Murphy had to stand behind the wire.

Fitzmaurice is hopping mad that he had to communicate with his selectors through the wire fence while media people and others sat in the Kerry dugout

“It’s very disappointing and I flagged it last January that this diktat on the sideline was just not good enough. I think last Sunday; it got to a new level of farce.

"When you had Mikey Sheehy, who has eight All-Ireland medals, numerous All-Stars, Texaco Footballer of the Year and made the team of the Millennium, and Diarmuid Murphy, with four All-Ireland medals and a couple of All-Stars, both outside the wire in Fitzgerald Stadium.

“Then you had the Order of Malta volunteers sitting in our dugout while our two doctors had to sit in the stand. I think that this is not acceptable.”

Other Weekend GAA Fixtures
Saturday – Christy Ring Cup semi-final replay: Down v Meath, Ballycran, 3pm.
Munster JFC semi-final: Tipperary
v Waterford, Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney, 5pm.
Sunday – Leinster Under-21 HC quarter-final: Wexford v Westmeath, Wexford Park, 3pm. Ulster MFC quarter-final: Derry v Down, Celtic Park, 12.15pm. Munster IHC quarter-final: Clare v Waterford, Semple Stadium, 1.45pm.