GAELIC GAMES NEWS:THERE ARE growing fears in Mayo that defender Trevor Mortimer will miss out on Sunday's All-Ireland football semi-final against Kerry at Croke Park.
Mortimer has been nursing a hamstring injury for the past week, and while Mayo manager James Horan is expected to announce his starting line-up later today, the expectation is that Lee Keegan could make his first championship start in the half-back line, with Mortimer kept in reserve.
It would be a setback for Mayo given Mortimer’s significant return to form this summer under Horan. Keegan did appear as a substitute late in the quarter-final win over Cork, replacing the injured Richie Feeney, but the Westport player wouldn’t have the experience of Mortimer, especially going in against a team like Kerry.
Keegan did take Mortimer’s place for Mayo’s final practice game over the weekend. Peadar Gardiner – who replaced forward Alan Freeman in the win over Cork – is also nursing a hamstring injury and thus unlikely to be considered for a starting place.
The news from the Kerry camp is that defender Tomás Ó Sé will be okay to start, despite sustaining a minor hamstring injury in their final practice match, staged at a closed-door squad training session at Fota Island Resort, Cork, last weekend.
However, the news concerning fellow defender Shane Enright is not so good, and it seems a hamstring injury will rule him out of a starting place – and with that perhaps force manager Jack O’Connor to persist with Eoin Brosnan at centre back.
Meanwhile, former Footballer of the Year Stephen O’Neill has committed himself to another season with Tyrone. The 31-year-old forward has made clear his intentions to return in 2012, despite the disappointing exit to Dublin in the quarter-final earlier this month.
In hurling news, Limerick Under-21 forward and captain Kevin Downes is still not sure if he’ll be able to play against Galway in Saturday’s All-Ireland semi-final at Thurles, due to the broken knuckle in his right hand, first sustained in their epic Munster final win over Cork.
“I still don’t know to be honest whether I can play,” he said. “I must see the specialist again this week and I’m getting physio on it. I got the bang against Cork in the Munster final but it was really in a club game two days later that I did the damage to it.
“I’ve just been doing basic fitness work and catching balls. I’m trying to keep the eye in as much as I can but I still haven’t been able to hold the hurley properly. Getting an injection for the pain wouldn’t be ideal and isn’t the kind of road that you want to go down. You could do a lot of damage for yourself that way. I’ll have to discuss it with the doctors.”
The GAA has confirmed that Brian Gavin will referee next month’s All-Ireland hurling final between Kilkenny and Tipperary.
The Offaly man will take charge of his first senior final, although the Clara clubman has refereed the All-Ireland minor final in 2004, the All-Ireland Under-21 final in 2006, and also has three All-Ireland semi-finals and two Munster finals to his name. Johnny Ryan of Tipperary will referee the minor final between Dublin and Galway.
This week's fixtures
SATURDAY
All-Ireland Under-21 HC semi-finals(extra-time if necessary): Galway v Limerick, Thurles, 6.0, A Stapleton (Laois); Dublin v Antrim, Newry, 4.0, F Smith (Meath).
All-Ireland JFC final(extra-time if necessary): Cork v Kildare, Thurles, 4.0, D O'Mahony (Tipperary).
All-Ireland Under-21 HC 'B' semi-finals(extra-time if necessary): Roscommon v Kerry, Toomevara, 2.0, M O'Connor (Limerick); Donegal v Westmeath, Ballinamore, 2.0, P Greene (Galway).
SUNDAY
All-Ireland SFC semi-final:Kerry v Mayo, Croke Park, 3.30, D Coldrick (Meath).
All-Ireland MFC semi-final(extra-time if necessary): Roscommon v Tipperary, Croke Park, 1.30, D Brazil (Offaly).
