Waterford star Ken McGrath rushed from Croke Park to his three-year-old daughter's bedside in Cork University Hospital after yesterday's All-Ireland hurling semi-final defeat to Tipperary.

A taxi was arranged to take McGrath to Cork immediately after the game. It's understood that McGrath's daughter, Ali, was bitten by a dog in Waterford on Saturday and was brought to Cork for surgery. And yesterday, Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald revealed that the Mount Sion stalwart had not been told about the accident before the game at the request of his family.

Fitzgerald said McGrath was "very distressed" after the game and left as quickly as he could.

He said: "I don't think he was told. Whatever about hurling, the most important thing is your family and please God she will be okay on that front.

"It would be very hard for Ken - that was his family's decision (not to inform him before the game). We would have had no problem whatsoever.

"We would have had no problem if he wanted to get back for that. That wasn't a problem with us. That was their decision and that was the way they wanted it. The family is number one and that's okay."

Fitzgerald added that the accident put losing a hurling match "into perspective". Tweet

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