Colm O’Neill brings Cork goal threat to Croke Park

Colm O’Neill will say goals have never come easy to him but then why does scoring them seem more natural to him than most others? 

Especially in knock-out games. Especially on the biggest stage.

At the age of 16, he was gunning down Kerry in a Munster minor final, picking off two goals that July afternoon in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Two years later in 2007, he was the minor whose 1-1 against Laois helped seal Cork’s first U21 football success in 13 years.

It goes without saying that Ballyclough and Avondhu know his prowess better than most. Last September, he struck three first-half goals for his club in the North Cork junior A championship final before they eventually went down to Kilshannig. Two months later and he found the net as many times for Ireland in their warm-up International Rules game in Melbourne.

The 26-year-old’s championship goal tally stands at a modest three, nothing close to some of the modern game’s greatest goalscorers like Colm Cooper (20), Steven McDonnell (18) or Bernard Brogan (13). In 18 SFC appearances, James O’Donoghue already has eight.

However, O’Neill has no need to explain himself. It wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest his tally would be in double digits but for the three cruciate injuries he’s endured. In truth, this is only his fifth full season playing senior for Cork and that includes 2009 when he was a late entry from the U21s and last season when Brian Cuthbert deemed it wiser to protect rather than risk him.

But aside from Cooper, has anybody scored goals as much on the big stage as O’Neill? Brogan may have netted a couple in the 2013 All-Ireland final but O’Neill’s prolific rate in Croke Park is hardly matched.

Going back to his debut senior season 2009 when he availed of Tommy Griffin’s slip early in the All-Ireland final, O’Neill has averaged a goal every second game he’s started at GAA HQ.

Because of form and injury, it was two and a half years before he scored another goal there but when he did it was on the back of a man-of-the-match display against Down in a Division 1 semi-final.

That started a remarkable run of four matches in 2012 when he netted on each occasion, all bar one following a similar chain of events: O’Neill collecting the ball and then firing it away and passed the advancing goalkeeper with a deadly left foot strike. The exception came in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Kildare when he palmed a Donncha O’Connor pass to the net.

In taking receipt of Ciarán Sheehan’s long ball in the subsequent semi-final, he appeared to have pushed Eamon McGee. Nonetheless, his finish to beat Paul Durcan was clinical and was one of only three occasions that summer when the Donegal goalkeeper was beaten.

On his second visit to Croke Park last year after missing the majority of 2013 with his third knee problem, he was raising the green flag again with a rising shot beyond Stephen Cluxton.

He had to made do with points in Cork’s next outing to the capital in their All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Mayo last August but was on the mark twice last Sunday week as Cuthbert’s side moved away from Donegal.

The brace brought his total to five in this campaign, reconfirming his status as one of the deadliest finishers in the game. As Colm O’Driscoll said earlier this week: “It gives you a bit of faith that when the ball goes in there’s a good chance it will end up inside in the net.”

In Croke Park, the chance is better than good.