O'Connor setting forward line alight

GAELIC GAMES:HALF-TIME in Kildare's first qualifier game against Laois, and the television pundits are at least unanimous on one thing: Kieran McGeeney has just unleashed his new secret weapon in a young full-forward named Tomás O'Connor.

O’Connor was certainly proving a handful, making a contribution to all bar one point of the Kildare’s first-half tally of 2-3 – in a game they eventually won by 15 points.

Truth is, O’Connor wasn’t exactly a secret, nor indeed is he exactly young – he’ll turn 25 in September, and no doubt someone, somewhere over the Kildare border in Offaly is also saying “he’s actually one of ours, you know”.

His father, also Tomás, is an Offaly native and played county football before moving to Clane and finishing up his own football career with the Caragh club in Kildare. The family are also cousins of the legendary Offaly footballers Matt, Murt, and Richie Connor.

The young O’Connor has always played with Clane, and having represented Kildare at minor and under-21 level, actually made his senior debut under then manager Pádraig Nolan back in 2005, in the second-round qualifier against Sligo, when he appeared as a substitute for centre back Damien Hendy, in a game Kildare ended up losing by a point.

The next year, however, O’Connor was sidelined with the dreaded cruciate tear, and like most footballers, that took an extended recovery, not just fitness wise, but to regain his strength and confidence. John Crofton came and went as Kildare manager and O’Connor also went in and out of the panel, before becoming a more regular starter under McGeeney last summer.

O’Connor featured in the 2010 second-round qualifier match against Leitrim, and then started at left corner forward in the third round against Derry. However, he suffered a knee injury in that game and went off early, and struggled to get back involved for the rest of the championship.

“He underwent an operation to repair the damaged cartilage at the end of last season,” explains Kildare team liaison officer Morgan O’Callaghan, “and that meant he was playing catch-up throughout the league as well, and has only really come good in recent weeks.

“But he’s always had a wonderful leap. He probably started out at midfield, and he would play midfield with his club alright, but probably lacks the true athleticism for the modern-day midfielder, the willingness to run. He’s athletic enough in that he’s a great leap and a good enough speed, but wouldn’t have the stamina running of, say, John Doyle.

“It was only in the Laois game that he set alight the full-forward position, but in fact he also started at full forward against Wicklow in the Leinster quarter-final, but was less effective.

“Also less so against Meath the first day, and his confidence took a knock after that. He didn’t start against Dublin as a result of that, but when he was brought back for the Laois game he didn’t disappoint.”

O’Connor is not the finished article, and indeed Meath’s Kevin Reilly eventually handled him quite well in Navan last Saturday. But he’s become a clear and present danger in the Kildare full-forward line and that only augurs well going into the Derry game in Croke Park on Sunday, especially as they have the daunting task of trying to raise themselves six days after losing the Ulster final to Donegal.

It’s confirmed that midfielder Hugh Lynch will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, but otherwise McGeeney has a fully-fit panel, and while players like James Kavanagh and Brian Flanagan are pushing for starting places, it seems O’Connor will be staying at full forward for the foreseeable future.