James Horan: O’Connor ‘one of Mayo’s most important players’ as they deal with Durcan loss

Cavan's Luke Fortune and Diarmuid O'Connor of Mayo. Picture: ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Paddy Durcan’s loss takes the gloss off the positives from Mayo’s comfortable triumph over Cavan, according to former player and manager James Horan.

On Monday, Mayo confirmed captain Paddy Durcan suffered a cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the season. Durcan came on in the second half of their 0-20 to 1-08 victory in Castlebar but went down before the final whistle.

For Mayo, there was plenty of good in the performance with Cillian O’Connor kicking 0-4 but the loss of their captain is a big setback ahead of Roscommon in the next round.

Speaking on the Irish Examiner’s Gaelic football podcast, Horan said Durcan’s loss will be considerable.

“It balances with the news on Paddy. He was soloing up right at the end of the game. The whistle blew when he hit the ground. You knew it was serious, unopposed running and he went down. He will still be a huge presence for the rest of the season around the team. You would wish him well.” 

In his absence, Mayo will look to one of their other leaders. Diarmuid O’Connor started in midfield having struggled with a hamstring issue earlier in the season and only coming on in the Connacht final.

“One thing I would say, I would argue one of Mayo’s most significant and important players is Diarmuid O’Connor. And he has been for a decade. He is up there with Aidan and those guys that have the impact on the team and performance.

“We are talking about Cillian, Diarmuid was better again. His overall football smarts are so strong. He was on the goal line and saved a goal. Picked up so much ball, got on so much play and breaks. Where it doesn’t get noticed is that Cavan were out of ideas on how to attack because of where Diarmuid O’Connor positioned himself. He is very smart that way.

He continued: “Himself and Cillian together have a connection in how they play. Cillian gets into position for a backdoor cut or spin when Diarmuid gets the ball because they know each other’s games so well. Those two guys definitely elevated Mayo’s performance. Huge additions.”