Nemo Rangers manager Ephie Fitzgerald has expressed disappointment at James Masters' shock omission from the Cork team for Sunday's Munster SFC semi-final against Limerick, and hopes Conor Counihan doesn't come to regret the decision. Fitzgerald, who has worked closely with Masters down the years at club level, said: "Whatever people say and think about James Masters, he is a player for the big occasion. He is a natural scoring forward - something Cork don't have too many of - and in the last two championship outings against Limerick he was the top scorer. "I was in his house earlier this week and was amazed at the amount of man of the match awards he had received both at club and county level. "He rarely has let Cork down in Munster championships over the last couple of years. "The selectors are reported as saying they picked the team from players in form. Form in my view is based on the championship and as this is Cork's first outing, there is nothing to go on. "Inter-county championship is a different level of football to challenge than club games, and I would have opted for experience." Last year's captain and another Nemo clubman Derek Kavanagh has also been left out of the Cork starting XV, but Fitzgerald admitted that he wasn't surprised that neither player had failed to make the cut. "It hasn't come as any great surprise to me or the lads that they are not starting. "From reports, they were not figuring in recent challenge games or in training games among themselves. "To be fair, Derek has been struggling with an injury, but James is too good a scoring forward to be left out." Tweet

Most Read Stories