Mayo All-Star suffers heavy defeat in Kildare championship debut
Conor Mortimer in action for Mayo against Tyrone in 2008. Pic: Inpho
Former Mayo star Conor Mortimer made his Kildare football championship debut at the weekend but it was not a successful one.
Mortimer (44) lined out for Ardclough who suffered a heavy defeat against a very strong Athgarvan side in Group C of the Kildare Junior Championship. On Friday evening, Mortimer could only watch on as his new club suffered a 7-25 to 0-3 defeat.
Mortimer scored two points but was largely starved of possession in a very one-sided game. He had previously managed Monasterevan in the Kildare Intermediate championship.
Ardclough are on of Kildare’s better known hurling clubs but have struggled with the big ball in recent years. They have conceded a number of walkovers in championship and withdrew from the Division 4 county league in April of this year.
Mortimer was not the only well-known sporting figure in their team. Former Leinster and Connacht rugby player, Fionn Carr, now aged 40, was also listed on their teamsheet.
Mortimer won an All Star in 2006 and was Mayo’s all-time leading scorer before being overtaken by Cillian O’Connor. The Shrule native was one of three members of his family to star for Mayo in the 1990s and 2000s, along with his brothers Kenneth and Trevor while his nephew, Kenneth’s son, Rio, has starred for Mayo at Minor and Under 20 grades in recent years.
