Mike Finnerty
DESPITE not togging out for his club in the Mayo Senior Football Championship last weekend, Ronan McGarrity is expected to return to training with the county squad tonight (Tuesday).
The 29 years-old midfielder has been sidelined with an achilles tendon injury for the last ten weeks and was unable to take any part in Ballina’s Mayo SFC first round defeat to Shrule/Glencorrib on Sunday.
However, McGarrity did some light training with the Stephenites last week and is expected to take a part in a Mayo squad session tonight in Castlebar as the countdown begins to the Connacht SFC semi-final against Galway on Sunday week next.
Meanwhile, McGarrity’s club-mate Ger Cafferkey also missed Ballina’s championship outing due to the hamstring injury that has sidelined the Mayo defender for most of the last two months. He now faces a race against time to be fit to face Galway.
Elsewhere, Trevor Howley and Dermot Geraghty were both forced to retire with injuries during their club’s respective championship outings on Sunday.
Howley, who only returned to action recently following an ankle injury, was taken off early in the second half of Knockmore’s shock defeat to Kiltane with a suspected strain to his lateral knee ligament.
Geraghty, who returned to the Mayo colours last month against London, was replaced after just fifteen minutes of Shrule/Glencorrib’s win over Ballina after ‘tweaking’ his hamstring.
Both players are due to be assessed by Mayo’s medical team tonight.
On a more positive note, Keith Higgins returned to action for the first time in two months when he lined out for Ballyhaunis in the Mayo Intermediate Championship on Saturday evening after recovering from a torn hamstring.
Pat Harte also made his return to the Ballina colours for the first time since tearing his cruciate knee ligament ten months ago.
The former Mayo panellist came on after fifteen minutes and turned in an impressive second-half display after moving to midfield.
There was also good news for the Mayo management team in Aghamore as Neil Douglas played his first full game for three months and showed no ill-effects of his long-running hamstring problem.
Breaffy’s Seamus O’Shea and Garrymore’s Enda Varley also returned to action and came through unscathed.
Meanwhile, Ballintubber’s Cathal Hallinan was released from the Mayo squad last week.