Kilkenny woes increase as farmyard accident rules promising forward out of championship

Bad things come in threes.

And for normally lucky black and amber cats in Kilkenny, their run of bad luck over the last 72 hours has been completed with some bizarre injury news for a promising forward James Maher made a huge impact in Kilkenny's Allianz Hurling League win over Tipperary in February, giving his namesake Brendan Maher a torrid time. He scored 0-4 on that occasion, and would have been expected to be a key player for the Cats over the latter end of the spring and perhaps into the summer. https://twitter.com/NWaldron45/status/701430825607438336 However he was marked absent for Sunday's hammering to Clare, and after the game, Brian Cody confirmed to reporters that a farmyard accident is likely to end his involvement with Kilkenny for 2016.

“James got a serious injury — he fractured his kneecap in an accident at home on the farm, so he’s really unfortunate. He’s going to be out obviously for a while.”

Maher's injury will be a further blow to Cody's summertime plans, with his side looking to recover from a hefty league semi-final loss to Clare, where their half-forward line was wiped out by a ravenous Clare defence.