O’Neill back in harness after more injury woe

IT was meant to be a spring that provided a series of rigorous inter-county tests and offered the perfect platform to build for championship football, but instead Stephen O’Neill found himself in a familiar mode of having to rehabilitate.

Injuries are no rarity for the Tyrone attacker and after a prosperous Dr McKenna Cup campaign, disaster struck in the final of the Ulster pre-season competition on a bitterly cold night in Enniskillen at the end of January when O’Neill was stretchered off with a dislocated elbow.

“I can remember the ball was down on the ground and I went to pick it up,” he recalls. “I missed it, and just as I landed I got the bang and felt the pain. I knew straight away that it was out when I felt it, and it was a sore one. It was definitely frustrating but these things happen. You just have to get on with it and work with the physios.”

Three months on and O’Neill is now back in harness. On Sunday he returned to action for his club Clann na nGael and kicked 0-6 in their Tyrone league victory over Eskra, and the 2005 Footballer of the Year is blunt in his admission of what he wants to achieve from this season – an All-Ireland medal.

He may have come out of retirement to aid Tyrone’s last success in 2008 but O’Neill has scant regard for that medal having only played a bit-part role.

“No I don’t count that medal. It was a brilliant year for Tyrone and it meant a lot to everybody in Tyrone. It was great to see the team doing so well but for me it wouldn’t be one of my personal best years. Having missed out in 2008, the All-Ireland is the target this year.”

O’Neill links up with a Tyrone panel who’s injury worries are now starting to ease significantly.

“Most of the injuries are clearing up now and we’re just waiting on Justin McMahon to come back,’’ O’Neill said. “He has a hamstring pull and it will be another week or two before he’ll be back training again. I played my first club game there on Sunday. I’m happy enough that the elbow held up well and there were no problems.”

His elbow may have recuperated but O’Neill is still hampered by a troublesome knee injury. His training regime is regularly interrupted yet he cycles regularly to maintain his fitness levels.

“My left knee is not 100% but I manage it in training and look after it as best I can. There’s times when it flares up and I just need an extra day’s rest instead of training. I do a bit of cycling and that keeps my fitness level up. I cycle with a few fellas and one is very keen, he’s training for an ironman in Austria in a couple of month’s time.”

In O’Neill’s absence Tyrone’s fortunes have nose-dived over the past few months, as they suffered the considerable setback of relegation to Division 2 on the final day of the league.

O’Neill admits that was a blow but insists it will not unduly affect their belief in their ability to compete at the top. “It wasn’t one of our targets at the start of the year so it is a setback,’’ he said. “We’re down a division next year, so we just have to try and get back up again next year. You still have to believe in your own ability and we have our game-plan and are working hard on it. We’re disappointed but we’re going to try to use that as motivation to kick-start things for 2010.”

Tyrone are presented with their first championship assignment with the Ulster quarter-final against Antrim on May 23. Liam Bradley has guided the Saffron men to successive league promotions and coupled with St Gall’s All-Ireland triumph, O’Neill is wary of their Casement Park opponents.

“Bradley’s got them well organised and they’re very motivated,’’ O’Neill said. “It’s going to be a very tough game. They’ve done well again this year in the league, they got to the final. Those St Gall’s lads have done brilliantly as well and they played most of the league without those lads, so to have them back is a big boost for them. They’ll be well for it and they have a home crowd as well.”