CORK HURLING DUO Aidan Walsh and Alan Cadogan have been drafted into the county’s senior football squad after their hurling campaign concluded last Saturday night.
The42 understands that the pair joined the senior footballers for a training session tonight as they begin preparations for next Saturday’s Round 3B football qualifier tie against Longford.
Both Walsh and Cadogan lined out in Thurles in Saturday’s Round 2 hurling qualifier defeat to Wexford.
The Cork footballers progressed with a Round 2B qualifier win over Limerick at the same venue on Saturday, and have now moved to strengthen their playing options.
Walsh last lined out for the Cork footballers in August 2014 when they lost the All-Ireland quarter-final to Mayo. In 2015, he opted not to pursue a dual mandate and concentrated exclusively on hurling.
The Kanturk man has collected All-Star awards in 2010 and 2012 while also winning an All-Ireland U21 medal in 2009 and an All-Ireland senior medal in 2010.
Cadogan has not featured for the Cork senior football side before but he enjoyed an excellent U21 career, winning Munster medals in 2012, 2013 and 2014. His last football match for Cork saw him strike 1-2 in the All-Ireland U21 semi-final loss to Roscommon in April 2015.
The Cork management have insisted all season that their panel is open-ended and they drafted in members of the Cork U21 side after their EirGrid All-Ireland final defeat to Mayo in April.
The availability of Walsh and Cadogan is a boost to manager Peadar Healy when selecting his 26-man squad for next Saturday afternoon’s game at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park.
Defender Jamie O’Sullivan and attacker Brian Hurley are definitely out with long-term injuries while there’s still a major doubt as to whether Conor Dorman, Barry O’Driscoll and Kevin Crowley will recover in time.
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