MAYO JOINT-MANAGER Noel Connelly says Donegal can double-mark full-forward Aidan O’Shea if they want, but that it will just mean their other forwards can take advantage.
The Connacht champions meet the Ulster heavyweights in the marquee game in this year’s All-Ireland quarter finals this Saturday, with O’Shea’s recent performances coming in for particular attention, having scored 3-4 in the Connacht Final against Sligo, as well as causing havoc in the Galway defence to force an own-goal in the semi-final.
Connelly is in the first year managing the team alongside joint-manager Pat Holmes, and he says that even if O’Shea is swallowed up by the Donegal full-back line, he’s confident his other free-scoring forwards can make up the difference.
“Obviously he is going to be a guy who is going to be well marshalled and well-marked. At the same that frees others up, there might be two/three fellas marking him at stages of the game so that frees up others,” he said.
However, Connelly is hopeful that if Rory Gallagher’s side do place special attention to O’Shea, the 25-year-old is given a fair crack at the whip by referee David Gough.
“To be fair, he is a guy who has really looked after himself physically both on and off the field. Both in terms of his diet and his training regime. He is a real positive lad and works really hard at training.
“There is no doubt that he is going to be targeted and all that we would ask from officials is that he gets fair play both on and off the ball. I said it before he is a big guy, he attracts a lot of attention and maybe in some games the attention he gets would warrant a free whereas the referee would view it that because he is a big guy he can take more.”
The Breafy clubman has been a revelation at the edge of the square after previous seasons in midfield and the half-forward line.
And Connelly says that his success in the position has been a work in progress throughout the season, and that he’s using more than just his size since the start of the Championship.
“We have worked on it but he has worked on it himself to be fair. He has seen the benefit of receiving a ball, throwing it off and receiving it back and finding himself in more open space.
“He is becoming more of a team player and he has not been playing long in that position, only since the league campaign and it takes him a while to learn and adjust and he has done that very well.”
