FAR FROM WALLOWING in a relatively quiet performance by his own high standards following St. Vincent’s AIB All-Ireland SFC club final win on St. Patrick’s Day, Thomás ‘Mossy’ Quinn was quick to heap praise on team-mate Diarmuid Connolly.
The Dublin forward was just too much for Castlebar Mitchels to handle and his personal tally of 2-5 proved key in Vincent’s seven-point victory.
While the previously free-flowing Quinn only had two points to his name on the day, he’s more than happy with the result and especially pleased it was Connolly who stepped up to the mark for the Dublin champions.
“It was tough going out there. Personally, it wasn’t one of my better performances but I couldn’t care less. In the film ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ there’s a great line: “I’d rather look bad and win than look good and lose.”
“I have absolutely no problem with that. And if Diarmuid comes out…we all know what he’s capable of.
“I don’t know. Pick any superlative you want, you’re the writers. Pick a superlative and put my name to it. He was that good out there.”
“He was just….when he’s like that, he’s different class. I don’t know, I don’t think he’s markable when he’s playing that well in Croke Park, particularly in a club game.
“Inter-county defenders struggle with him when he’s like that. In club football, he’s just head and shoulders. Thankfully he did it for us today.
But it’s not just club football where Quinn thinks Connolly can make hay and the wide expanses of Croke Park, particularly in the latter stages of the Championship, will only see him improve.
“Yeah. I’m obviously biased. I see him at close range so much but I’ve said it for years. When he performs, he’s up there with the best in the country. The goal and the challenge for him is to perform week-in, week-out.
“He has given us a couple of hints of that with his performances and we were just happy we got him here. Because Croke Park is a different venue. I’ve said it all year, Croke Park suits him down to the ground.”
Scarier still for those tasked with the challenge of marking Connolly is that Quinn believes he can play anywhere in the front six so if any one defender does get a handle on him, Jim Gavin can easily move him.
“He can play inside, he has the talent, he can finish. Outside, he has the athleticism and the football to go with it.
“I think you need vision to play at eleven and he obviously has that. It’s a great option for Dublin to have. I’m sure they’ll look at him in different places and do what’s best for the team and he’ll roll with it.
“And that’s the brilliance of his character. Other players of his ability might say ‘no, I want to play inside’ or ‘I want to play at eleven.’ But if he’s asked to play at ten or twelve, he’ll play at ten or twelve and I suppose when you’re that good, you can do it.”
Additional reporting from Fintan O’Toole.
