Four hurlers struck down by the dreaded hamstring sniper on bruiser of a League weekend

The hamstring sniper took four hurlers out in their prime at the weekend.

Soft-tissue injuries go hand-in-hand with boggy pitches and winter GAA and four high profile hurlers fell victim to one of season's perils at the weekend. Tipperary duo Jake Morris and Bryan O'Mara were both forced off in the first half of their Allianz National Hurling League Round Two clash against Galway due to the 'dreaded hamstring,' as Liam Cahill put it. O'Mara and Morris will be hoping to make swift recoveries but the fall-out is something sharper, and a good deal more distressing for Stephen Bennett and Robbie O'Flynn, both of whom have had recurring problems over the last few years. To see O'Flynn coming off after 43 minutes of Cork's loss to Kilkenny due to another hamstring strain was a huge blow for the player and his county. As one of the fastest players in hurling, it's unsurprising that the Érin's Own club-man has hamstring issues but he has suffered more than most. Having torn his hamstring in the Munster championship against Tipperary last year, the hamstring operation he would subsequently require sidelined him for the remainder of the season. It was five months before the 26-year-old would return to action and at that, he was only coming on as a sub in his club's Junior A county final win in October. O'Flynn played the full-game against Clare last week and while his manager Pat Ryan is hopeful the injury he sustained against Kilkenny isn't too bad, the interruption is none-the-less unwelcome given the season's condensed nature. It's the same sort of story for Waterford's Stephen Bennett, given his well-documented injury issues. Only a couple of weeks ago, his manager Davy Fitzgerald revealed the depth of his hip problems. 'The medical advice was 'you need to do a job and a serious job.' If he gets the serious job, he won't be playing hurling again," Fitzgerald said. Bennett pulled up with a hamstring after 52 minutes against Clare, and was seen limping towards the dressing room after the game. Speaking afterwards, his manager Davy Fitzgerald was afraid to ask about the injury. “He missed three or four league games last year, so he just wants to get a run and try and get that fitness up in the games because we are not training him that hard because of what he has injury-wise. "Games like this are where he can really work on his fitness.” Former Kerry footballer Darran O'Sullivan suffered his fair share of hamstring injuries down through the years and speaking on The GAA Hour, the Kerry speedster detailed his issues with the hamstrings, and the psychological trouble it creates. "One decent hamstring injury, and your season is more or less gone. "One serious hamstring injury and you could be out for eight to twelve weeks. "Then psychologically, the trust just isn't there in your head for another two or three weeks after you're back. "I had a good few in my latter years," he said. "The injuries all started coming after 2011, which was my best year, it was a long year, and then 2012 was the first year I was really in bother with the hamstrings," he said. "Later on in 2012, I do remember we went up to Westmeath in the qualifiers and I had the injury so I was on the bench. "We weren't going too well at the time so they brought me on and I got a goal and I did another job on it. I remember coming out, Gooch telling me to focus or whatever and I was like 'sure my hammer's gone.' Read more:

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