Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor facing lengthy absence

‘Disaster’ for Ballintubber man as dislocated shoulder may need surgery

Mayo manager James Horan has been dealt a blow after two time Young Footballer of the Year Cillian O'Connor dislocated his shoulder in club championship action on Saturday night.

O’Connor is to be assessed early this coming week to see if he will require surgery which would, in all likelihood, rule him out for the rest of the championship. Even if surgery is not required, he will miss Mayo’s next championship game, against Roscommon in three weeks’ time, at the very least.

He was taken by ambulance to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar where his shoulder was put back in.

O'Connor picked up the injury playing for his club Ballintubber against Claremorris in the group stages of the Mayo Senior Football Championship. It happened 41 minutes into the game in Clogher when his side led 3-9 to 0-7. O'Connor tackled an opposition player in what appeared to be an innocuous contact but it quickly became clear that it was anything but.

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It’s the same injury he picked up one week after last year’s All-Ireland Final. That injury, on the same shoulder, had him out of action until this March.

Speaking afterwards Ballintubber manager Peter Ford described the injury as "a disaster".

He added: “He was having a great game and he was playing brilliantly since he came back from injury. It’s a nightmare for him.”

O’Connor had scored 1-4 from full-forward in the game. Ballintubber went on to win the game 3-11 to 1-12.