John Fogarty: Centurion Cillian O'Connor is the most important forward in football
Cillian O'Connor of Mayo shoots to score his side's first goal from the penalty spot during the Allianz Football League Division 2 North Round 3 match between Mayo and Meath at Elverys MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
If memory serves us correctly, Donegal were one of the first progressive counties to make a fuss about their players reaching a century of National League and Championship appearances.
Infamously, Colm McFadden was presented with an acknowledgment of his achievement after Armagh had dismantled the visitors by nine points in a 2010 qualifier in Crossmaglen.
McFadden’s awkward smile as TV cameras caught the moment was held up as a prime example of how this Donegal group had their priorities all wrong. Never mind that he along with nine other starters that day began the All-Ireland final win over Mayo two years later. Never mind that McFadden should have been crowned footballer of the year that season as he starred in his brother-in-law Jim McGuinness’ team. Never mind he would add another 73 appearances in the yellow and green before his retirement in 2016. Seems he cared a lot.
In Ennis on Sunday, another marquee forward in Cillian O’Connor reached the special milestone. Mayo won so had there been a presentation it wouldn’t have been as inconvenient but then he was icing the ankle injury which forced him off before the interval.
Prior to his departures, he had bagged 1-4, scoring from a penalty (a goal), a free, an advanced mark and play (two points). A quadrumvirate of quality to complement the occasion. Despite playing less than half the game, he was still Mayo’s highest scorer by full-time.
To suggest his exit contributed in some way to Mayo's struggles in the third quarter when Clare fired 2-5 wouldn’t be a far-fetched theory. As James Horan pointed out, Mayo performed poorly on Clare’s kick-outs and the concession of goals came from aerial mistakes but crucially composure was also lacking in attack. At the start of the second half, the average age of Mayo’s full-forward line was less than 22. The ball was not sticking.
Paul Towey looks a prospect but there might as well have been a collective groan among his team-mates after he eschewed a shot in additional time as Mayo minded their three-point lead. Building up to that attempt, Mayo had strung together 43 passes and used up three minutes and four seconds. The young Charlestown man had the wherewithal to kick it but in O’Connor’s hands it most likely would have counted for something.
The importance of a fully-fit O’Connor was never more apparent than last season when he stood out each time on their way to the All-Ireland final. Free of the shoulder problems and hamstring and knee niggles that beset him in seasons previous, only David Clifford and Ciarán Kilkenny rival him as the most important out-and-out forward in the game.
Yet O’Connor’s status is often dismissed as inflated in some quarters - particularly in Dublin. Five-time Championship top scorer? Dean Rock would be too if he was playing so many qualifiers. Deadly marksman? What about that missed free in the 2017 replay? More sinned against than a sinner? Three red cards between county and club in the past three seasons.
Much of the contempt for O’Connor in the capital stems from an incident in the drawn 2016 All-Ireland final when James McCarthy was black carded for colliding with him. The Dublin defender strenuously argued at the time that O’Connor's collapse was exaggerated. Galway midfielder Thomas Flynn might say the same about how he too was punished for the same against O’Connor in the 2017 Connacht semi-final.
O’Connor’s studious, considered approach to preparing for matches is well-known but having been a teacher in Drimnagh Castle in Dublin towards the end of the last decade where the Sam Maguire Cup often made a visit, few in the Mayo camp would have felt the anguish of multiple All-Ireland final and semi-final losses to Dublin as keenly as him.
With O’Connor fit and able, Mayo remain the closest team to Dublin, marginally ahead of Kerry. Their losing streak against the All-Ireland champions unfurls far longer than the Kingdom’s but there is more exuberance in their dashing defenders who are more adaptable and have proven themselves in the Championship, not just the league. With O’Connor as the spearhead, their spine is also stronger.
They might not need him in the early doors of the Connacht SFC but so much of Mayo’s championship aspirations rests on their centurion being completely clear of injury by the end of next month.
Liam Cahill certainly cut a worried figure losing Aussie Gleeson (ankle), captain Conor Prunty and Shane Fives (quads) to injuries against Tipperary on Sunday.
“When you have quad muscles and ankles and stuff it is never good two weeks out. A lot of these injuries now are three and four week jobs, hence we took off a few guys because we couldn't persist with it when they were feeling little strains.”
Given his rise in form since last year’s All-Ireland semi-final, Gleeson would be a colossal loss should be miss Sunday week’s game against Clare. Working for county sponsors TQS, he should be afforded enough time to rehab the injury to line out in Thurles and there should be help elsewhere in Mount Sion.
How often was his club-mate Ken McGrath a doubt only to tog out in Waterford’s first Munster SHC game? From 2002 to 2006 when a broken thumb sustained in a club game a month before a provincial semi-final wasn’t enough to stop him starting against Tipperary at centre-back, McGrath had a remarkable record of overcoming pre-championship injuries to play.
Gleeson has been fortunate enough to avoid major setbacks - “Touch wood I’ve never had a bad injury, but you could get a bad injury, simple things, it’s literally the blink of an eye and anything could happen,” he said back in 2019.
Often it was the case that Justin McCarthy did nothing to dissuade the belief his Waterford team were walking wounded going into a Munster game. Cahill doesn’t seem one for kidology nor Brian Lohan who too has injuries on his mind but expected cards to be kept close to the chest until the day.
Andy McEntee's claim that Conor McGill was spat on in Sunday’s Division 2 semi-final in Newbridge brought us back to when his predecessor Mick O’Dowd pointed the finger of blame at Dublin for a biting incident in the 2014 Leinster final.
After completing his press duties following the defeat, O’Dowd came back into the auditorium underneath the Hogan Stand. “I’ve just come back to the dressing-room after speaking to you, and I see the doctor dealing with his finger, and he (the doctor) has gone to the Dublin dressing-room to talk to the Dublin doctor, because there’s a protocol to deal with in terms of a bite, in terms of blood transferring from one person to another.”
While there were photographs of Mickey Burke's hand close to a Dublin player's mouth and Burke holding his finger to show referee Pádraig Hughes and a reference to it was believed to be made in his report, no charges were brought against a Dublin player. Ultimately, Meath chose not to bring the case any further.
Does McEntee now choose to do the same and focus on Carlow or Longford in a Leinster quarter-final on July 4 or does he double down on his claim and make a submission to the Central Competitions Control Committee, possibly as mitigation in contesting McGill’s red card?
Given the seriousness of the claim and the Covid context - can we assume McGill will be tested? - McEntee may have no option but to pursue the matter.
