Cruciate woe won’t dampen Conor’s final enthusiasm

Conor Mason will be watching this Sunday’s county junior final from the sidelines after a second cruciate ligament injury since the turn of the decade ruled him out of action until next year.

Conor suffered the injury against Kilmovee Shamrocks in the early days of this year’s championship.

“It was a bit of a sickener,” said the versatile Cill Chomáin man. “We had played just two games in the championship, I had been starting at 15 and going back sweeping.

“It was a bit of a freak accident. Two of us were going for the ball and my leg was out and got caught on the ground and the knee twisted.

“The other cruciate was done before about three years ago. I worked hard to come back, maybe I rushed back a bit but I know what to expect now. What to do right and what I could do wrong,” he said.

Despite the setback, Conor is looking forward to experiencing the county final, the club’s third such outing in four years, from a different perspective.

“It’s a lot harder watching than playing. That semi-final, I must have kicked every ball on the sideline,” he remarks.

Conor came back to fully focus on GAA in the last year after many years spent as a regular starter for Ballina rugby club, where he excelled. He always had it in his mind to focus on Gaelic however.

“Last year I tried to combine the two sports but this year I was going to put the football first. Gaelic is big in my house and the grá was always there to go back.

“With the rugby, it is an All-Ireland level and it was nearly semi-professional so it was nice to bring that bit of professionalism to Cill Chomáin.” 

Conor said he will do what he can to help the club from the sideline but in many ways, escape from GAA would be a tough ask for Conor, coming from a sports-mad household.

His brothers Seamus, Lorcan and Joe should all expect to see gametime this Saturday and testament to their dedication, Lorcan has been flying home to North Mayo on a regular basis from Aberdeen where he is studying to be a radiographer and Joe has been commuting home from Wicklow. Furthermore, Conor himself is living at home in the Kilcommon area and the big match is the only thing on everyone’s minds.

“The old lady is a bag of nerves,” said Conor. “There is a great atmosphere around the house and the community. Everyone wants to talk about football and the flags are up all over the village.

“It is so important to get over the line. We think we’re good enough to be up there at intermediate and it is good for the young lads coming up too. You get nothing without winning. The teams we play in the league are mostly at an intermediate level and we held our own but we haven’t won junior so we’re not out of it yet,” he said.