Masters in a race against time
CORK selector John Corcoran yesterday said the odds are lengthening on James Masters playing a part in the All-Ireland SFC final against Kerry despite his return to training on Tuesday night.
The talismanic corner-forward sustained a fractured jaw in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Sligo, on August 4, and had to undergo an operation.
"Our medical advice is that it will be a four to six weeks recovery period for James, and it will be exactly six weeks between the Sligo game and the All-Ireland final," said Corcoran.
"So that makes things very tight and obviously James would have to do plenty of training before the match against Kerry, because a player couldn't go in an All-Ireland final without proper preparation."
On the plus side, all members of the panel involved in club action last weekend emerged unscathed.
"We have a lot of dual players and most of the panel would have been playing either football or hurling last weekend," said Corcoran.
Among those taking part was sub 'keeper Paddy O'Shea, who was unable to take his place on the bench for the semi-final clash against the Royals and was replaced by Boherbue's Kevin Murphy.
"Paddy picked up a leg injury in a club game, but he's okay again," explained Corcoran.
Talty rules himself out
GALWAY can forget about attempting to lure Brian Talty to take over as their new football manager.
The Dublin selector has been widely touted as one of the front-runners for the prestigious post recently vacated by Peter Ford. Talty was interviewed for the position prior to the Mayo man being appointed three years ago.
But yesterday, Talty, who played for Galway in the 1983 All-Ireland final against Dublin, insisted he wouldn't be throwing his hat into the ring with regard to the managerial hot seat in his native county.
"My future is with Dublin football, hopefully as part of the present county management team, if we are retained, or with schools' (he is a teacher at St David's) or club football. I've been involved in Dublin football for 28 years, and that's where I'll continue to stay."
