Stevo Injured for Cork Yesterday
Bad blow for him.
Galway United 0-1 Cork City
Cork City’s star striker John O’Flynn made a substitute appearance for the Leesiders in this pre-season game on Friday night, but his namesake, recent signing Stephen, suffered a potentially serious leg injury in the course of the game.
Cork won the game by virtue of a goal from under-21 international striker Kevin Doyle in the third minute of the second half, heading home from close-range after a flick-on from defender Alan Bennett.
The Wexford lad has been in supreme form in pre-season and scored twice for the Irish under-21s in the recent Madeira Islands tournament victory.
John O’Flynn has seen virtually no action since last August - he had a brief but ill-fated return to action before the end of the season before succumbing to injury once more - but his substitute appearance against the Tribesmen will give hope to Cork City fans that he will be ready to return for Pat Dolan’s side, if not for the first game of the season against Dublin City next Friday night, then within the next few weeks.
However, the injury to Stephen O’Flynn, who scored 28 times for Limerick in the two seasons since he left Cork, will represent a blow to manager Pat Dolan.
The full extent of his problem is not yet known, however, and hopes are high that the injury will not be as bad as first feared.
For Galway, Ryan Casey made his debut against his former club, and he came close to opening the scoring seven minutes from the end of the first half but his shot fizzed past Michael Devine’s post.
Goalkeeper Alan Gough, a close-season signing from Derry City, was introduced by Galway manager Tony Mannion soon after Doyle’s goal, and Cork were unable to add to their tally in the remainder of the game.
Instead, Galway threatened to force an equaliser, but Michael Devine made saves from Mixie Harty and ex-Cork man Mark Herrick.
More important than the result, for Cork fans at least, will be the well-being of their two attacking O’Flynns, who, fitness permitting, would be expected to be key figures in any tilt at the eircom League championship in the coming season.
Galway United: Forde (Gough, 52), Carberry, C. Frawley (O’Connor, 85), R. Frawley (Carter, 63), Curran (Herrick, 45) Harty (Russell, 76), Hughes, Fortune (Byrne, 85), Moran, Goldbey (McCarthy, 63), Casey.
Cork City: Devine (McNulty), Horgan (O’Halloran), Woods, Byrne (Lordan), Bennett, Nwankwo (S. O’Flynn (Nolan)), O’Callaghan (Sweeney), C.T. O’Brien, Kearney, Fenn (Behan), Doyle (J. O’Flynn).
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Quote:
Originally posted by LFC in Exile
Latest rumour from eL message board is that it is a broken leg (tibia). What a shi tty thing to happen at this stage.
It is meant to heal faster than the fibia though isn't it (is that the right one). Hope he is not out for too long.
