Sullivan Injury Blow For Offaly U-21 Footballers
Thursday, 17 February 2011
Anton Sullivan will be a huge loss to Offaly U-21 footballers after dislocating his shoulder on Friday night. TT061236
OFFALY'S hopes of glory in the Leinster U-21 Football Championship have been greatly damaged by a bad injury to their star player, Anton Sullivan.
Sullivan dislocated his shoulder while playing for his club, Rhode in an easy win over Raheen in the Division 1 Football League last Friday night and his injury is a savage blow to Offaly U-21 footballers.
The U-21s have been busy preparing for the first round of the Leinster championship under manager, Martin Murphy (They play the winners of Westmeath and Laois on March 9) and Sullivan is their best player.
Sullivan's loss is also a blow to Offaly senior footballers as they aim for promotion from Division 3 of the Allianz Football League but they are way better equipped to cope with his absence than the U-21s.
Sullivan will be out for somewhere between six to twelve weeks and senior manager, Tom Cribbin stressed on Monday that it is crucial that he rebuilds his shoulder properly to ensure it doesn't pop out again once he returns to action.
U-21 manager, Martin Murphy was still coming to terms with the news when he spoke to the Tribune on Monday. 'Anton will be an unbelievable loss. I was very disappointed to hear about his injury. Anyone who knows anything about Offaly football knows the quality Anton brings to the team,' Murphy remarked.
The Gracefield man was hopeful that Sullivan could be back after six weeks and be available for the Leinster U-21 final (It is fixed for April 6) if Offaly progress that far.
Murphy has been happy with the way Offaly U-21s have been preparing and they recorded a good win over Kildare in a challenge game on Sunday. Apart from Sullivan, a brilliant forward, it was the first time they had their full squad together and Murphy described it as a 'very good workout'.
At the moment, however, he will have to plan without Sullivan who is a huge talent and played very well for Rhode as they reached the Leinster club final.
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