Pain game toughens Megan Connolly’s resolve

Connolly admits she was too immersed in the euphoria of clinching a World Cup playoff by beating Finland in September to address the internal damage she had suffered.

TOUGH CUSTOMER: Megan Connolly during a Republic of Ireland women's training session at Dama de Noche Football Center in Marbella, Spain. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Time wasn’t a healer for the FAI medical team in the 12 years that passed between Shane Duffy and Megan Connolly suffering similar injuries.

But the lessons from Duffy’s 2010 trauma ensured they advised the women’s international Connolly to afford extra time for her body to heal.

Overall, the Cork native spent 10 weeks sidelined – a significant period of convalescence for a knock she initially claimed had just winded her.

Connolly admits she was too immersed in the euphoria of clinching a World Cup playoff by beating Finland in September to address the internal damage.

On that pivotal night for Irish women’s football, by the sixth minute the Brighton and Hove Albion defender was crumpled on the surface, clutching her abdomen in a desperate move to suffocate the pain.

Little did she know when deciding to play on that she’s broken two ribs; the stray bone protruding into her kidney to create a one centimetre laceration.

A blunt impact wound of that severity incurred on the playing pitch in a green jersey naturally rang alarm bells about Duffy’s near-death experience.

He was forced to undergo emergency surgery after an accidental collision with the opposing goalkeeper during an unofficial Ireland game severed an artery to his liver, resulting in Duffy 3.6 litres of blood, or two-thirds of his supply, being lost within a couple of hours.

Connolly’s incident differed by it being a delayed admission till the following morning but there was a symmetry insofar as Dr Siobhan Forman is a Cappagh Hospital colleague of John O’Byrne, the consultant whose quick-thinking by rushing Duffy to the Mater for surgery ultimately saved his life.

Not that Connolly was projecting a picture of concern – the social media picture of her recuperating famously showed her tucking into a McDonald’s supper.

“To be (honest), the doctors were very cautious with me, just because of that,” the 25-year-old said of the Duffy flashbacks.

“I couldn’t speak any more highly of them; they took really good care of me, as well as Siobhan, my doctor, how she handled it the next day, making sure I got everything I needed.

“I felt the injury at half-time and was worried it would affect me but I didn’t feel it once in the second half. It was grand during the celebrations when I was dancing around.

“Once the adrenaline wore off, the pain began to come.

“We got it checked out the next day and it was a grade three laceration of the kidney.

“I was in the hospital for three days, went home and spent two weeks in bed. From there, I got back to my club and it was a waiting game; resting for four weeks and scan after six.

“From week seven, I was able to build up and I got back playing in the tenth week.

“I just accepted it because it was an injury that I couldn’t control. It was worth it because of the win.” 

That win she cherishes earned a playoff clash against Scotland five weeks later that Connolly was unable to attend during her prescribed rest.

Stuck on the family couch back on home, lessons from the Finland trauma conditioned her to avoid embracing the watershed moment by contorting in celebration.

Restrained emotion instead accompanied the sight of Amber Barrett’s goal and the scenes of jubilation among her teammates at Hampden Park at full-time.

They got over the line without Connolly and now she’s back fit and in the squad aiming to maximise the springboard provided by their first-ever major tournament qualification.

Ireland face China today in Cadiz (2pm local, 1pm Irish time), the first of five friendlies in the run-up to their long jaunt Down Under to open the showpiece against co-hosts Australia on July 20 at the Sydney Olympic Stadium.

Connolly will win her 36th cap, either in midfield or back in a defence she became central in before the injury, as Vera Pauw confirmed her strongest team will be selected.

That will include two of the three recent recruits, with Marissa Sheva and Deborah-Anne De La Harpe set to be followed onto the pitch at half-time by Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion.

China, in 14th, are nine places above Ireland in the Fifa rankings and Pauw feels Friday’s 105-minute workout against Germany behind closed doors, which they lost 5-0, will stand to them for the tests against the Aussies, Canada and Nigeria in the World Cup group.

“Our defensive team-work organisation is fantastic, seven clean sheets and unbeaten in our last eight matches, so now we can take risks and find our limits,” she explained about the purpose of the 10-day camp in Marbella.

“We need to grow and have to grow.

“This is not a qualifier or anything so it’s better to make mistakes now rather than at the first game in the World Cup. We are trying to make steps because you can imagine, if you start playing differently, you start to open yourself.”