O'Neill relishing battle for final place

Colm O’Neill needed just 18 minutes' game time against Dublin to play himself into contention for a place in the Cork team for the All-Ireland final against Down on September 19.

O’Neill had ‘one of those days’ in the quarter-final win over Roscommon, as the Rebels struggled to get to grips with the Connacht minnows. He got the shepherd’s crook at half-time, replaced by Donncha O’Connor at corner forward. Cork finished strongly and the received wisdom was that manager Conor Counihan had finished the game with his strongest team on the field.

That suspicion was confirmed when the Ballyclough man was left standing in the ongoing game of musical chairs in the Cork full-forward ahead of the Dublin game. However, as Cork stared into the abyss in the final quarter at Croke Park, Counihan called on the 21-year-old. His introduction, it was widely agreed, helped swing the game in Cork’s favour. He kicked a point from play and won the 54th minute penalty which O’Connor converted.

“Yeah, I suppose personally it was good for me. You just have one of those days when everything goes right for you,” O’Neill says of the one-point semi-final defeat of Dublin.

“The previous match, everything went wrong for me so I hope it isn’t coming in cycles.

“We were just delighted with the win and we beat a very good Dublin team who showed savage intensity right from the off. We’re going to have to up it even more the next day.”

Cork played their ‘get out of jail free card’ against the Dubs, as O’Connor scored a late 1-3 from placed balls to secure a final berth. Or was it a sign of Cork’s collective character, winning a game in the dying minutes in which they had been second best for long periods?

“Probably a bit of both,” O’Neill reasons. “We know what our huge potential is, but it’s a results game and we are in the final now and we are looking forward to that. We can’t dwell too much on the past so we are just looking ahead now. Every single game.”

Having made his case for inclusion against Down on Sunday week, O’Neill plans to put his head down and force his way into Counihan’s plans in training over the next two weeks.

“Every match is a clean slate. There is no guarantee of places for the final,” he adds.

“It’s going to go down to the wire again. It’s the same all year, it’s going to be decided on training and our A versus B matches and they’ll be something to look forward to over the next few weeks.

“They’ll be fairly hot and heavy with people fighting for places. You don’t know. He’s (Counihan, the Cork manager) going to pick the team on form and I think that’s the proper way to do it anyway.”

O’Neill knows what lies ahead over the coming days. He’s been down this road before. He scored 1-1 from full-forward in last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Kerry in his first Championship campaign.

Spirited into the Senior squad after captaining the Under-21s to All-Ireland success against Down last April, O’Neill took the pressures of Senior inter-county football in his stride. Does it make it any easier that he’s no longer a greenhorn at this level and on this stage? Does the experience of last year make it any easier?

“It depends if I get the start,” he answers matter-of-factly. “People would probably be saying that we are more experienced all right having been in the final last year.

“That might be a good thing or a bad thing. Even last year I was coming into the unknown in an All-Ireland final. It was my first All-Ireland final and it is not a bad way to come really. You don’t know what to expect and you just give it a lash.

“This year we will know the build-up to it, we have been there last year.”

The details of last September’s defeat have already been thrashed out. O’Neill is keen to move on. Cork can’t change the past, but they can shape the future. He’s never played against Down at Senior level but he’s seen enough of their Championship run this year to know the threat they pose.

“I saw a bit of the semi-final. I was impressed to be honest. They have some very good players all over the pitch. I think we played them in a challenge game during the year up the country somewhere,” he continues.

“I wasn’t there myself but I think they beat us on the day. A lot of people were impressed with them. Personally, I picked them to beat Kildare so it wasn’t a surprise to me. They are a fantastic team really.”

Despite dumping Kerry out of the Championship at the quarter-final stage, Down’s season was expected to end against Kildare in the semi-final. They were rank outsiders but O’Neill saw in the Mourne men a hunger that Cork will have to match on Sunday week.

“First and foremost they were underdogs, I suppose. Not many people were giving them a chance and they beat the reigning champions Kerry this year, so they came in hungry. They did just enough on the day to come into the final.”

Photo: Ulster Bank stars Danny Hughes (Down) and Colm O’Neill (Cork) are pictured in George’s Quay, Dublin as the colleagues prepare to meet in the upcoming All-Ireland football final in Croke Park. The talented duo met the four lucky GAA fans who have been selected by Ulster Bank, official sponsor of the GAA Football All-Ireland, to perform a guard of honour on the pitch in front of a full-house in Croke Park for the eagerly awaited clash between Down and Cork. Log on to Ulster Bank’s dedicated GAA website, www.ulsterbank.com/gaa for interviews and behind the scenes footage of Ulster Bank’s GAA stars.