Another Cat hangs up his hurley, a body blow to Mayo and the O’Hara backlash begins

Another man with a bagful of medals calls it a day, Mayo’s All-Ireland hopes take a hit and Eamonn O’Hara is getting some blow back for his comments on Kevin Walsh.

Noel Hickey, Cha Fitzpatrick, Michael Kavanagh, Eddie Brennan and John Dalton. Those are just some of the names that Kilkenny have lost in the past two years. That would rip the guts out of most teams but we all know Kilkenny are a bit different.

Today they lost another player who is hanging it up too soon as injury has forced John Tennyson out of the game at just 28. The Carrickshock defender only featured once as a sub last year but he collected six All-Ireland medals in his time in the black and amber, including the run of four in a row from 2006-09.

"I didn't feel that I was in competition for a starting place. My time is up and it's a good time to go. I'm hoping that I can free up more time to give to the club,” he tells the Irish Examiner.

"I spoke with the management at the start of this week and told them, they wished me the best and I wished them the best."

Shoulder problem strikes O’Connor again

Mayo just can’t seem to catch a break. Less than a week after welcoming back their long-term injured forward Andy Moran, they may have lost another leading light for a significant period.

There is no official word on how bad Cillian O’Connor’s newest shoulder injury is but the language being used by the county board suggests the Ballintubber man’s season could be over.

“While the initial diagnosis is that Cillian has suffered a dislocated shoulder to a similar injury suffered last year, more assessment is needed. Cillian will undergo a further scan next Thursday and will meet with the specialists then to determine the extent of the injury and the treatment required. Cillian will continue to work with the excellent medical team who will no doubt have Cillian back playing for Mayo as soon as he is physically able to.”

We hope that O’Connor’s injury is not too serious, but if he is out for the Championship, it’s a real blow to James Horan’s summer hopes.

Oisin McConville has a lash back at Eamonn O’Hara

Here’s a small snippet of what former Sligo player Eamonn O’Hara had to say about Kevin Walsh last night on the Sunday Game.

It has upset many people and Armagh’s Oisin McConville reckons it could be personal. Speaking on Morning Ireland today, the former Armagh man said: "Eamonn has a platform to make those comments. I just felt it sounded as if he had a personal axe to grind with Kevin Walsh.”

Looks like we might have this week’s version of Brolly/Grimley….