Cork Hoping To Welcome Back O'Mahony And O'Connell For Galway Semi-Final

Cork face Galway this Sunday in the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals, hoping to book their place in a third straight decider.

The Rebels entered last season as league and Munster champions, before demolishing Dublin in the last four.

Many would contend the team has improved in the 12 months since, yet defeats in both the league and Munster finals this year have cast doubt over their ability to get over the line.

Galway, by contrast, have quietly gone about their business this season, and enter the semi-finals as Leinster champions for the first time in eight years.

Cork have spent much of the year dealing with injury issues, but manager Ben O'Connor may have received a boost, with two injured stars set to make a timely return to the team this weekend.

Cork manager Ben O'Connor has suggested that both Tim O'Mahony and Tommy O'Connell have recovered from injury and could be considered for selection for this weekend's All-Ireland semi-final against Galway.

O'Mahony (dead leg) and O'Connell (broken thumb) both missed the All-Ireland quarter-final win over Cork. However, Denis Hurley of the Irish Examiner reports that Ben O'Connor is "optimistic" that both men, as well as Robert Downey and Mark Coleman, will be in contention for selection when he names his team later this week.

"Tim and Tommy both did a bit at the weekend," O'Connor said on Monday.

"We have a game at training tonight [Monday] and if the two of them can play in that, they’re in contention for the weekend."

Ciarán Joyce is still ruled out, while the severity of O'Connell's injury may see him miss out on the starting XV. Otherwise, Cork boast a clean bill of health.

Cork team to play Galway: We expect the Cork team to be named on Thursday evening

Galway, too, hope to have a sidelined duo back for Saturday's semi-final.

Both Daithí and Rory Burke were injured in last month's Leinster final win over Dublin, but manager Micheál Donoghue is hopeful both men will recover sufficiently to be considered for selection for Saturday's game.

An anxious wait, so, to see if both men will be fit to start against Cork.

Galway team to play Cork: We expect the Galway team to be announced on Thursday

Cork face Galway this Saturday in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final. Throw-in is at 3:30pm, with the game live on RTÉ 2.