Louth's Ciarán Byrne suffers cruciate injury

Louth have been dealt a huge blow after it was confirmed that Ciarán Byrne is facing an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury.

The St Mochta's clubman, who represented Ireland against Australia in the 2013 International Rules series, suffered a similar injury in 2016. At the time he was playing in the AFL with Carlton.

Byrne went for scans after picking up an injury in the opening quarter of Louth’s Division 2 clash with Clare in Ennis and had to be stretchered off the pitch.

It was confirmed to RTÉ Sport that the results were not positive, with the 28-year-old set to miss the rest of the inter-county season as a result.

Byrne retired from the AFL in 2018 but was approached by an Australian club in late 2022 about the possibility of returning to the sport.

"It was a no-brainer to stay with the GAA and stay involved in what's happening in Louth and St Mochta’s," he told RTÉ Sport on his decision to reject the approach.

That news was a massive boost to Louth manager Mickey Harte who had guided his side from the bottom tier to the second ahead of this season.

Their Division 2 campaign started in frustrating fashion on Sunday as two late points saw Clare nab a 0-13 to 1-09 win.