MARK ELLIS IS expected to be fit for next month’s Munster senior hurling final after only suffering slight damage to his knee ligaments in Thurles yesterday.
Cork GAA’s official website has confirmed the news this evening and it represents a boost to manager Jimmy Barry-Murphy ahead of the July 13th showdown with Limerick.
Ellis was forced off in the 67th minute of yesterday’s Munster semi-final victory over Clare with Eoin Cadogan coming on to replace him.
There was concern for the Cork defender as he had to be helped from the pitch but the results of a scan indicate he should be back for the tie in four weeks in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
The Millstreet club man has been a huge addition to the Cork side this season after not being part of the squad that reached last September’s All-Ireland final.
He made his senior championship debut recently when starting against Waterford in the drawn Munster quarter-final and has grown in to the centre-back role since then.
Ellis caught the eye this spring with his performances at the heart of the defence for the Cork IT team who reached the Fitzgibbon Cup final in March before losing to Waterford IT in Belfast.
He won a Munster intermediate hurling medal with Cork in 2009 and lined out with the county’s U21 side that lost an epic Munster final after extra-time against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds in August 2011. After a couple of seasons on the fringes of the senior panel, Ellis has pinned down a starting berth in 2014.
