Crossmaglen's hopes of capturing their fourth All-Ireland club football title have been dealt a major blow with the news that county star Francie Bellew could be sidelined for up to five months. The full back is given little chance of featuring against Connacht champions St. Brigid's in February's All-Ireland semi-final after being told that his shoulder problem requires surgery. His participation in the All-Ireland final on St. Patrick's Day would also be in doubt were Crossmaglen to make it that far. The former All-Star is seeking a second opinion on the injury which has troubled him for over a year, but Cross manager Donal Murtagh says he's resigned to being without him for the St. Brigid's clash. "It is very unlikely that we will have Francie available for the semi-final against St. Brigid's. He's already seen a specialist about the shoulder," Murtagh said. "It may be that there is a tendon or ligament being pinched by a bone. Francie is going to have to have something done long term about it, so surgery shortly looks likely. "The problem is probably down to a combination of some wear and tear and the number of games Francie has played for the club and Armagh over a long number of years. "He was playing through the pain barrier this year for Armagh and for us. The injury first caused him trouble last year and now it's reached a stage that something has to be done to sort it out." Tweet

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