Conor Mortimer: Mayo must get Aidan O’Shea call right

Former Mayo forward Mortimer says more critical than what players tag Tyrone’s Conor Meyler and Kieran McGeary is getting O’Shea into the game so he can have the maximum impact on proceedings

Most important for Mayo in Saturday’s final is the positioning of Aidan O’Shea and how best he can be utilised, believes Conor Mortimer.

The former Mayo forward said more critical than what players tag Tyrone’s Conor Meyler and Kieran McGeary is getting Aidan O’Shea into the game so he can have the maximum impact on proceedings.

The place and positioning of the Mayo captain has been a source of some speculation after a subdued semi-final performance which saw him subbed off on 49 minutes. But while former manager Stephen Rochford told the Irish Examiner GAA podcast earlier this week that he would have no hesitation in starting him in a forward role, 2006 All-Star Mortimer is adamant that midfield is the place for the 31-year-old.

“The most important one for us is where O’Shea plays and how we can get him into the game to benefit us. The likes of Aidan leading the way will steer us in good stead. If he’s quiet and not getting involved, we’ll find it very difficult to break Tyrone down,” insisted Mortimer, who was speaking at the launch of the new KFC Zinger Popcorn Bucket.

“If there are any questions over Tyrone, it might be at midfield. They are good defensively and they have good forwards. In and around the middle we can attack them and that is where I foresee Aidan playing, provided the engine is there for this particular game.”

But irrespective of whether he has the fitness to sustain a midfield role for 70 minutes — no, says former Tyrone player Brian McGuigan — Mortimer certainly wouldn’t start him in the inside line alongside Tommy Conroy and Ryan O’Donoghue.

“Tyrone have Pádraig Hampsey back there. He is built for a big man. He has taken Michael Murphy out and Conor McManus out. He is a good man-marker.

“I don’t think Aidan is going to be as beneficial inside with a big man in there picking him up.

“I’d rather see him out the field and dominate the midfield. We need to be winning our primary possession, hence if Aidan is midfield, he is much more physical than Conor Loftus. He is bigger, stronger, which we are going to need around the middle because there is going to be a lot of breaking ball.

“If we can match Tyrone with hunger and intensity around the middle third, we’ll have a good chance of winning the game.”

On the aforementioned Meyler and McGeary match-ups, Mortimer expects Paddy Durcan and Diarmuid O’Connor to be the pair assigned the role of muting Tyrone’s key players.