BY GER McCARTHY
MICHAEL Hurley and Damien Cahalane are Castlehaven’s biggest injury concerns ahead of Sunday’s All-Ireland club senior football championship semi-final showdown with St Brigid’s.
Two of the West Cork club’s most experienced players have been dealing with hamstring injuries since Haven’s dramatic Munster club final win over Dingle on December 10th.
Both in-form Hurley and Munster final hero Cahalane are in a race against time to prove their fitness for the clash with the Connacht champions in Semple Stadium, Thurles (1.45pm).
By Castlehaven manager James McCarthy’s own admission, neither Hurley nor Cahalane have been able to train as they would have liked since that provincial triumph.
‘Michael Hurley and Damien Cahalane are the two main injury doubts for us,’ McCarthy confirmed.
‘Michael hasn’t trained fully yet. We are hoping that he will be okay but, ahead of the All-Ireland semi-final, he just hasn’t trained fully. Michael is still recovering so we will see.
‘Damien is in the same boat. As of right now, neither Damien nor Michael has trained fully so we won’t know how they will go until closer to the game itself, to be honest with you.
‘There were a good few knocks and bruises after the last game but, thankfully, everyone else should be ok.’
An opportunity to mentally switch off after all the drama of their pre-Christmas penalty shootout Munster final heroics was welcomed by the Haven’s management team and players. Off the pitch, the Christmas period is, naturally, a busy one for everyone involved in Castlehaven’s senior football set-up. So, was McCarthy glad of the seasonal break or would he have preferred to keep going immediately after the Munster final win?
‘The honest answer is a little of both of those,’ McCarthy said.
‘I suppose with Christmas, and people being off, we were inclined to train in the mornings and give players the rest of the day off. We worked hard to make sure Christmas was as enjoyable as possible for the players too. We are preparing for an All-Ireland semi-final so hopefully we have gotten the balance right.’
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