O'Loughlin 'can't remember 10 minutes of match' after alleged punch

Laois dual player John O'Loughlin has spoken out after receiving a broken jaw in a Laois senior football game for his club Mountmellick, against neighbours Emo last Friday in O'Moore Park, Portlaoise.

The 19-year old has been ruled out of both hurling and football for up to two months following an alleged off-the-ball incident which occurred 10 minutes from full-time.

"It was just an off-the-ball box and that's as much as I know. I know the box was done and I knew straight away something was wrong," O'Loughlin said.

The UCD student stayed on the field following the incident, but confesses he remembers little about the closing stages of this contest which his side won by five points.

"I can't really remember the last 10 minutes of the match. I went down to hospital after that," he added.

The Laois Co board is awaiting the referee's report prior to deciding on the action to take.

Although he is able to talk properly, O'Loughlin can only eat soft foods for the next few weeks and he has also to avoid competitive action in the near future.

"I will be able to do running on my own and maybe in the next few weeks a bit of gym work but I will have to avoid physical contact for the next six weeks," he said.

Despite missing some vital games for his club in the local senior football championship, O'Loughlin is taking it all in his stride.

"These things happen in sport, you will always have incidents like this and when I get back hopefully it won't affect me and hopefully I'll be able to play as I was playing before," he enthused.

O'Loughlin declined overtures to taking part in this weeks' Aussie Rules camp organised by scout Ricky Nixon in Mayo, because of his commitment and dedication to the GAA, while he is also studying for an agricultural science degree at UCD.

"I'm half way through a degree in UCD. I've a lot of teams that I play on and I don't want to let anyone down," he said.

Former Laois footballer Colm Begley has made a name for himself with the Brisbane Lions already and O'Loughlin has not ruled out the possibility of taking an AFL trial in the future.

"I'm only 19 and in the future you'd never know, but at the moment those are the reasons – to get through my degree and to keep playing GAA."

"Colm Begley jumped in head first and he is doing very well for himself. There are pro's and con's to the decision but at the moment I didn't feel I wanted to go for the trial and you'd never know in the future."

O'Loughlin's former Laois minor colleagues Conor Meredith and Zach Tuohy have been called to AFL trials in Australia in recent months and he is delighted to see them making progress.

"I haven't been talking to Conor or Zach in a few months now but it seems that they are going to make a career for themselves and best of luck to them with it."

"They are two fine footballers so hopefully they will be successful with it over there."