Dara Sheedy fit for Cork U20s opener against Clare

Cork manager John Cleary has confirmed that Dara Sheedy has recovered from the knock he suffered against Meath in the Allianz Division 2 Football League final defeat last Sunday week.

The Bantry Blues forward is set to feature for the U20s under new boss Ray Keane tomorrow in the Dalata Hotel Group Munster Championship Phase 2 Round 1 clash with Clare in Quilty at 7pm. His availability is a significant boost for the Leesiders ahead of what is expected to be a tough encounter.

“I’ve been talking to Ray Keane and we have a plan made out, we just have to be careful with Dara,” Cleary says.

“He has trained fully this week. Dara is playing on Thursday for the U20s and we’ll see how he gets through that with regards Sunday.” 

Sheedy’s rapid rise has been one of the stories of the year. In his first season with the senior set-up, he has taken to it like a duck to water.

“Last year he maybe didn’t have the best club championship, but he was carrying an injury,” the Castlehaven clubman notes.

“I got on to him at the end of August and we had a chat. He said he needed to hit the ground running if he was to feature with us. I was thinking maybe panel wise then.

“In fairness to him, he came in great shape. Every day he went out, he was putting his hand up. He came on as a sub against Kerry and against Cavan in his first two matches this year, but the impact he had in those games - we felt we had to throw him in at the deep end. He’s done very well so far.” 

One of Cork’s challenges now is managing Sheedy’s workload as he lines out for the U20s, whose fixtures are coming thick and fast.

“Fundamentally, it’s the player you try to protect,” Cleary says.

“We want the U20s to do very well as well. If he can do both, great. But there may come a time where we’ll have to say that Dara needs to pull back a small bit. We’ll monitor it week by week.” 

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s Munster quarter-final against Limerick at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh (2pm), Cleary also revealed that defender Kevin O’Donovan will miss the next few weeks due to injury.

“Kevin picked up an injury and he’s out probably for the next few weeks,” Cleary explained.

“It’s a foot injury. He had something similar last year, but it’s slightly different now. It’s enough to keep him out for the next few weeks anyway.”