Cats count the cost as team injury list grows

Kilkenny are sweating on the fitness of a number of players ahead of facing Galway in the Leinster senior hurling final in Croke Park on Sunday week.

The Cats finished off the round-robin stages of the provincial campaign with a two point defeat away to Wexford but with a spot in the Leinster decider practically assured before the game, the loss turned out to be the least of Derek Lyng’s worries as the Cats boss saw three key players going off injured in the first half.

Adding to Richie Reid leaving UPMC Nowlan Park in a protected boot after the Dublin game and Paddy Deegan not been deemed fit enough to make the matchday panel, the visit to the South-East turned into something of a nightmare for the Kilkenny management as Mossy Keoghan, Mikey Butler and Adrian Mullen all went off with serious looking knocks.

First off was the reigning Young Hurler of the Year Butler, who left the fray after he went down in a collision with a Wexford player.

While the corner-back attempted to play on for a period, he eventually had to be replaced by Conor Delaney.

Butler was seen leaving the dressing rooms on crutches in what seems to be a calf injury.

Mossy Keoghan suffered his knock in the process of scoring an early goal. Like Butler he too tried to play on but with it being a hamstring knock, he had to concede defeat and also went off in the first half.

The biggest worry for Kilkenny supporters is the suspected fractured thumb that current All-Star Adrian Mullen picked up when he was caught by a swinging hurl from Wexford wing-back Simon Donohoe.

Remarkably no free was given at the time and the Shamrocks star had to be escorted off the field by the team physio before being given a garda escort directly to University Hospital, Waterford, where he was further assessed.

Mullen is a vital cog in the Kilkenny team and he looks certain to miss the Leinster final. That would leave him facing a race to be fit for any subsequent games in the All-Ireland series.