TIPPERARY FOOTBALLER COLIN O’Riordan was stretchered off during Tipperary’s Allianz Football League Division 3 victory over Sligo in Thurles earlier today.
The 2014 Allstar nominee sustained a neck injury following a tackle from Sligo’s Ross Donovan and play was stopped for 17 minutes.
When referee John Hickey finally blew for full-time, to signal a 0-15 to 0-13 victory for Tipperary, 92 minutes and 9 seconds had been played.
There were worrying scenes as former dual All-Ireland minor medallist O’Riordan lay motionless on the Semple Stadium turf. Premier County boss Peter Creedon stated afterwards that 19-year-old O’Riordan suffered a neck injury in what looked like an innocuous incident at first glance, although Donovan was booked.
O’Riordan is undergoing further tests this evening but if concussion is confirmed, he could miss Tipp’s EirGrid Munster U21 football final against Cork on Thursday week, April 9. We just hope that this brilliant young footballer has not suffered a serious injury and that he’ll be back in blue and gold very soon.
Tipp’s fourth successive victory ensured that they’ll be playing Division 3 football again next year but relegation-threatened Sligo will have to sweat it out in next weekend’s final round of fixtures.
