Mayo’s O’Connor puts final ‘miscommunication’ behind him

Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor is refusing to dwell on the “miscommunication” with referee Joe McQuillan at the end of the All-Ireland SFC final defeat to Dublin, but admits he would have “gone for goal” if “I knew then what I know now”.

O’Connor, who will be out of action until next April after undergoing surgery on his injured shoulder last month, was speaking publicly for the first time about the mix-up at the end of the All-Ireland decider which resulted in a number of Mayo players confronting McQuillan at the final whistle.

“The first thing I’d say is that Dublin deserve great credit for their win, and you can’t take that away from them,” said the 21-year-old All Star nominee.