THE PURPOSE OF January GAA fare is to try to discover options for the bigger days ahead and Cork manager Ronan McCarthy hopes one of his potential additions is not facing another spell on the sidelines.
Attacker Cathal Vaughan came off injured before half-time of Saturday’s McGrath Cup final after suffering a partial shoulder dislocation.
The team medics were able to put the shoulder back in place and will be aiming to avoid an extended layoff for a talented attacker that has suffered his share of injury woes.
Vaughan struck 0-3 during his cameo in Saturday’s tie against Clare in Mallow, six days after notching 0-2 in their opening round tie against Waterford.
The games provided a reminder of Vaughan’s capabilities. He played in the 2013 All-Ireland U21 final in his first year out of the minor ranks and featured for Cork in the 2014 Munster senior semi-final but injuries have obstructed his development path since then.
“It was a shoulder (injury),” remarked McCarthy afterwards.
“I think he’s given (it) a little tug there, we’re hopeful. Obviously he’ll have to be scanned before we know the full extent of it but we’re hoping it’s not too serious and not too long-term.
“From his point of view, the last thing he needs now is another stint on the sidelines and so on because he’s made a huge effort. He’s had a very good pre-season. He’s buckets of ability and talent and so on.
“Hopefully it’s not too much of a layoff for him but we won’t know that until next week.”
At a time when the death knell has been sounded for the inter-county pre-season fare around the country, McCarthy has found the McGrath Cup a useful exercise as he starts life in the Cork hotseat.
Only three counties entered in Munster this year with Limerick, Tipperary and Kerry opting out but the Cork manager was happy with what he took from the last two games.
“We’ve learned a lot from it, that’s what we wanted to do. We’ve put an awful lot of players in. We got a good idea off them on Saturday and we know some more about them and we dug out a result in the end. (It was a) funny type of a game really, hard to know what to make of it.
“I’ve stated it many times and I’ll state it again, as long as I’m the manager of the team we will be involved in this competition. I see great benefit in it from the point of view of competitive matches, from the point of view of getting match fitness into fella’s legs and the big thing is you get to see players.
“You bring guys into a panel and they’re training and everything else – you have to see them in matches before you can make a proper judgement. It’s an opportunity for us to see them in a game environment. I’m a big fan of the competition and will always be.”
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