Cork slash five well-known hurlers from panel after relegation near-miss

The response to staring into the abyss has been savage.

Kieran Kingston has used Sunday's near-miss of Cork hurling falling into the limbo of Division 1B hurling to cut five very known names from his county senior hurling panel. According to the Irish Examiner, the Cork hurling manager has dropped two former county captains from his squad as the Rebels now look forward to the championship. The newspaper is reporting that Pa Cronin and Shane O'Neill have been axed, while Paudie O’Sullivan, Cian McCarthy and Stephen Moylan are also gone. Cork play Tipperary on 22 May in the Munster senior hurling quarter-final, but those players will not be part of the preparations. O'Sullivan's and McCarthy's omission from the championship panel are understood to have been somewhat voluntary, with work commitments believed to be a key factor. However, the other three players are understood to have been cut based on training performance. Cronin was Cork's Munster-winning captain from 2014, while O'Neill led his native county during the 2011 season. All five failed to start last week's narrow relegation win over Galway.