Ryan and Tomkins out of hurling qualifier

WEXFORD’S INJURY crisis has robbed the side of outstanding young defender Liam Ryan for their opening Senior hurling qualifier game on July 2.

The right full-back sustained a broken thumb when assisting his club, Rapparees, in their All-County Hurling League defeat to Oulart-The Ballagh on Friday.

The injury has brought the curtain down on Ryan’s summer, and he is joined on the sideline by Askamore’s Shane Tomkins who faces an agonising twelve-month recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

Manager Liam Dunne has ruled Ryan out of playing any part in the qualifiers which limits his defensive options even further.

‘Liam (Ryan) underwent surgery in Waterford University Hospital on Saturday. He had the thumb wired up which rules him out of hurling for six to eight weeks which makes him unavailable for the qualifiers,’ Dunne said.

Wexford’s unfortunate run of injuries does not end there with Shane Tomkins now out of the frame. He had passed a fitness test in the run up to the Dublin game which led to his inclusion in the substitutes.

‘Shane has done his cruciate knee ligament which rules him out of hurling for up to twelve months. He will have the knee operation on June 24,’ Dunne explained.

With Andrew Shore, recovering from cruciate knee operation, and the Oulart-The Ballagh pairing of David Redmond and Shaun Murphy all long-term injury victims, Dunne is now hoping that the remainder of his players on the doubtful list will be available for the qualifier game. Incidentally, Redmond has had surgery carried out on his hip.

‘Lee (Chin) is about 80% at the moment while both Aidan Nolan (knee ligament) and James Breen (hamstring) have resumed light training. Hopefully they will be available,’ Dunne said.

But of more concern to the manager is the fitness doubt surrounding young full-forward Conor McDonald.

‘Conor is having an MRI scan on his knee at Santry Sports Clinic this morning (Monday). We are keeping our fingers crossed that the injury is not too serious,’ he added.

Apparently McDonald suffered the injury during the course of Wexford’s Under-21 defeat to Dublin.

On the football front, Wexford will host Fermanagh in their opening round qualifier game at Innovate Wexford Park on Saturday evening week.

Fermanagh went down by a seven-point margin to Donegal in the Ulster championship in Ballybofey on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Wexford Junior footballers travel to Drogheda on Tuesday to take on Louth in the provincial final.