Mike Finnerty
Clogher
THERE was good news for Mayo football supporters everywhere this evening as Cillian O’Connor came through his first competitive match in more than eight months with flying colours.
O’Connor kicked eight points (six from frees) for Ballintubber in their 1-14 to 1-7 win over Charlestown in the Michael Walsh Secondary Senior League in Clogher.
The 28 year-old hadn’t played competitively since Ballintubber’s Connacht club championship semi-final defeat to Corofin on November 10 last year.
But O’Connor showed no ill-effects of his persistent knee problem as he lined out at full-forward and got almost seventy minutes of action under his belt.
The GAA championship’s all-time leading scorer will be hoping to carry this form into next Saturday evening’s opening round of the Mayo senior club championship.
Defending champions Ballintubber begin their quest to win three-in-a-row of Moclair Cups when they take on Aghamore in Clogher next weekend.
Other Mayo panellists to line out in this evening’s clash were Michael Plunkett, Diarmuid O’Connor and Brian Walsh (Ballintubber) along with Tom Parsons (Charlestown).
Before the game, a minute’s silence was observed in memory of the late Padraic Coleman, father of Ballintubber captain Damien Coleman, who passed away earlier in the day.
The Ballintubber team also wore black armbands as a mark of respect.
* You can read a full match report of Ballintubber’s win over Charlestown in Tuesday’s edition of The Mayo News.
