Kieran Shannon: Why Aidan O'Shea and Cillian O'Connor deserve their All-Ireland medals
Mayo needed an injection of players who didn’t have the baggage of ever losing an All-Ireland but they also needed the know-how of Aidan O'Shea and Cillian O'Connor, two men who had started in a staggering 16 championship wins in Croke Park. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie
In a different time they might have been guilted into feeling all Roy about it. That it was somewhat hollow. Even undeserved.
When Roy Keane – or at least his team – eventually won the biggest prize in his sport on a balmy Barcelona evening in 1999, the Corkman put on a brave, smiling face, parading the cup upon the urgings of his teammates with Paul Scholes who had also been suspended for that Champions League final. When the team retreated to the dressing room, however, Keane felt like an actor, an outsider even, amongst the celebrations.
