Diarmuid O’Connor died with his boots on in Newbridge.
There was a ten second spell by the sideline in St Conleth’s Park on Saturday evening when Diarmuid O’Connor panned out on his back with his pounding heart the only sign of life in his jaded body.
It looked for all the world as if that would be his last act in a game where he ran himself into utter oblivion.
20 seconds later the play developed and the ball came back awkwardly in his direction. Of course it did, for some reason, whenever a player is nursing an injury or attempting to resuscitate themselves after a mammoth effort, the ball is just guaranteed to come their way.
The only difference this time around was that where others remain lifeless, Diarmuid O’Connor somehow mustered another gazelle like gallop to offer himself as an option for his under pressure teammate Paddy Durcan.
The Ballintubber bullet went on to sprint past two Kildare players before setting up that man Durcan for a point.
A couple of minutes later, O’Connor was still hurling his body like on top of breaks with complete disregard for his own well-being. After a David Clarke save rebounded out into the mixer, that man O’Connor dived into the fryer to gather one of those balls that only the bravest warrior would.
A free was given against him for touching the ball off the ground. It seemed harsh because he hadn’t picked the ball up, but referee David Gough was just going by the rules.
His was the face of a man hard done by.
On 72 minutes and with Kildare holding a one point lead, this would be a turning point in the game. That rule just seems a little bit unrealistic, given that it was his motion that took him down to the ground.
But O’Connor to his credit stayed going, and on 75 minutes came his finest hour. Despite clearly suffering from cramp, he raced onto a breaking ball, won a free before crawling off the field.
Colm Parkinson and Cian Ward took us through it perfectly on Monday’s GAA Hour.
“It was like platoon there towards the end. His legs were gone and he tried to run for a ball, and in fairness to him, he got that ball, he kept going and he somehow gathered it. Then gives it away and falls on the ground, then he realises he has a free and he goes ‘shit’ we’ve a free, so he crawls off the pitch,” said Wooly.
In the corner of the screen, you can see O’Connor almost fighting with his physio to get himself off the field quicker.
“He’s indescribable. I was just in convulsions of laughter at him, which is terrible because he was just phenomenal. You never see people like that, unless they’re doing the Cross-fit games or something. He was out, gone. It was a phenomenal performance in terms of the ground he covered,” said Cian Ward.
“There’s a fairytale story about him covering 16k in a game before. He had a magnificent game, he really took the fight to Kildare. He’s abrasvie too, great physicality, he’s some all round footballer. I thought he was sensational, the balls he won.
“That part at the end of the game when they really needed it, this is where it takes unbelievable character. Someone else that tired and that fatigued is telling the manager to get somebody else on, or they’re shying away, he wins the kickout, carries the ball on and wins a free. He had no right to be doing it,” continued the Meath man.
Wooly felt that O’Connor’s show of spirit and courage sums this Mayo team up.
“This lad put in a serious shift. I’ve never seen anything like it. I don’t know, if that didn’t just sum up Mayo’s last seven years in the All-Ireland championship, I don’t know what did. He has a great engine, he’s the perfect midfielder. He was all out there.
“He’s lying on the ground gasping like there’s no air coming into his body, and then a minute later, he’s back and you’re like how did he recover?”
That’s Diarmuid O’Connor stuff.
You can listen to this chat and much more from Monday’s GAA Hour Show right here.
