CORK REPORT A clean bill of health ahead of next Saturday evening’s All-Ireland SHC Phase Three clash with Wexford in Semple Stadium and will be able to welcome back dual star Eoin Cadogan into their ranks.
Selector Ger Cunningham, speaking earlier today at the captain’s call ahead of tomorrow’s Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U21HC final, revealed that midfielder Darren Sweetnam has recovered from the illness which affected his performance in last Saturday’s victory over Offaly while Niall McCarthy emerged unscathed from his substitute cameo in the Páirc Uí Chaoimh clash as he made his comeback after being absent recently with a hand injury.
Cadogan did not feature in the battle with Offaly as he was focusing on Sunday’s Munster football final tie against Clare but Conor Counihan’s side’s victory in that game means that barring replays, the Douglas man cannot face a fixture clash on the same weekend for the rest of the summer.
“Darren was not 100% for the match last Saturday as he had a stomach bug he should be fine now and ready for the Wexford match”, Cunningham told TheScore.ie. ”We’ve a few other niggles as well but nothing too serious. Niall McCarthy is back now fully with us and can partake in all our training sessions. It was good to see him get some game time against Offaly as well.”
“It’s great to have Eoin back with us as well. It was a nightmare scenario for him last weekend having both games on but we fully understood the decision. Jimmy (Barry-Murphy) and Conor (Counihan) consulted with each other about it and he went with the footballers. There’s great credit due to him for what he’s been doing at the moment. It’s not easy, training is the hardest thing to get right, but the co-operation has been excellent and that’s helped the situation.”
Cork will name their side tomorrow night and the management have plenty choices to make with Cadogan’s availability coupled with impressive contributions from Daniel Kearney and Luke O’Farrell when introduced during last Saturday’s tie.
