Mark Fitzgerald suspended for Limerick clash
Mark Fitzgerald receives a black card from referee Sean Stack that will rule him out of crunch game with Limerick.
Waterford captain Mark Fitzgerald is set to miss the Munster championship meeting with Limerick due to suspension. The Passage defender picked up his third black card of the season in Saturday's defeat to Cork, so he will be served with a one-match ban.
Fitzgerald left the field twice in the National League for black card offences. The first also came against Cork in Round 1 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, while another followed in Pearse Stadium against Galway in Round 5. Rule 7.2 of the GAA's Official Guide states that three orderings off during a season for two yellow cards or a black card will result in a one-match suspension.
The Déise are short on defensive cover as All-Star full-back Conor Prunty has missed the entire Munster championship with a quad injury, while Ian Kenny and Iarlaith Daly both came off in the first half of Saturday's game with hamstring issues.
"It's a huge blow to us," admitted manager Peter Queally. "We were down our full back already like and then down Mark, a second full back. Do you know any more full-backs? We're running out of them at this stage!"
Top scorer Stephen Bennett came out of the dressing room with an ice pack on his left knee.
"He will have to go for a scan. He did his hamstring halfway through the first half and played on with it. Unfortunately, then he jarred his knee just before half-time, when he was making that effort to score after Billy's save. Probably not looking good to be honest with you."
