Conor Mortimer scored 14-388 in a Mayo jersey.
The Shrule Glencorrib club man played his last game in the green and red in 2012 and that was the year he broke Joe Corcoran’s long standing record to become the county’s all-time top scorer.
Cillian O’Connor has been coming for Conor Mortimer for a while now. One of football’s sharpest shooters, he began the 2018 championship only 42 points behind the best kicker of all time Colm Cooper in the All-Ireland championship all-time scoring standings.
Cillian O’Connor is a champion marksman and on Saturday afternoon in the Gaelic Grounds, the Ballintubber sniper did what he does best, he did what he always does.
He’s eating into Colm Cooper’s 42 point lead now.
Limerick opened the scoring with an early goal and Mayo folk must have been worrying that the qualifier dithers that they came through last year were about to surface again.
Not on Cillian O’Connor’s watch.
Only just back in action after a recent injury, he set off like a scalded cat down in Limerick. He reeled off three unanswered points from play almost immediately to respond and that settled the Mayo troops into it.
It also ensured that he was there and then out on his own as the Yew County’s all-time top scorer, leaving Conor Mortimer’s tally for dust.
For a man of only 26, that’s some going.
There’s so much more to come from Cillian O’Connor, and he proved that as the game developed.
By half-time he had 1-6 to his name with his county leading the Shannonsiders by 1-10 to 1-1.
He finished his afternoon with a hat trick of goals on an afternoon when Mayo really caught fire. In the end, they ran out 5-19 to 3-7 winners.
With Andy Moran on fire beside him, it was a sight for sore Mayo eyes.
#GAA Football Championship Qualifier Round 1
29mins 2nd half#LimerickCLG:2-6(12)#MayoGAA :4-17(29).Andy-Cillian-Andy Wow
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) June 9, 2018
Cillian O’Connor finished his afternoon with 3-9. He’s now only 22 points behind Colm Cooper, with 23-261 now to his name in Championship football.
