The festive break for Ballyhale Shamrocks will be a welcome one as they prepare for an All-Ireland semi-final in January.
Kilkenny’s senior champions ended 2021 as Leinster senior champions and will now face Galway’s St. Thomas’ on January 22/23 as they chase a third consecutive club All-Ireland title.
Manager James O’Connor has been telling Scoreline that the break will allow some players to rest, not least TJ Reid who has been struggling with injury of late.
“He has been struggling for the last couple of weeks”, O’Connor told Scoreline of Reid’s scenario in the wake of Shamrocks’ win over Clough-Ballacolla.
“To be honest with you, since the county final he has a bit of a groin injury. We’re trying to rest him as best we can but with the games coming three weeks on the trot, it was hard.”
“In fairness to him, he’s a fantastic man to look after himself, rehab himself at a very high standard.I hope there’ll be a couple of weeks there to let him settle down and just give him a bit of time out because he’s going non-stop all the time.
Evan (Shefflin), TJ and Colin (Fennelly) were carrying injuries going into the game but all are expected to be well-rested and recovered with a full deck to pick from come the third week in January.
Throw-in details are yet to be confirmed for the game but you’ll be able to find it live on-air, online and here on scoreline.ie.
