Updated 22:15
MAYO’S CHAMPIONSHIP HOPES have received a major setback after attacker Cillian O’Connor suffered a serious shoulder injury in a club match last night.
O’Connor’s injury will be properly assessed in the coming days but the initial signs do not look promising for the 2012 Young Footballer of the Year.
He is set to miss Mayo’s Connacht semi-final tie against Roscommon on June 16th after incurring the injury to a shoulder that he previously dislocated in a club league a week after last September’s All-Ireland senior final.
O’Connor was in action for his club Ballintubbber against Claremorris in the group stages of the Mayo senior championship when he suffered the injury early in the second-half.
The St Pat’s Drumcondra student subsequently received treatment in Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar.
Ballintubber won the game by 3-11 to 1-12 with O’Connor having scored 1-4 during his time on the pitch.
He fired 0-6 for Mayo in last Sunday’s Connacht quarter-final against Galway in Pearse Stadium and his potential absence is a major blow for county manager James Horan.
A statement, sent out by the Mayo P.R.O at 10:05pm this evening, reads, “The injury sustained was to the same shoulder as Cillian previously hurt last October. While the initial diagnosis is that Cillian has suffered a dislocated shoulder to a similar injury suffered last year, more assessment is needed.
Cillian will undergo a further scan next Thursday and will meet with the specialists then to determine the extent of the injury and the treatment required. He will continue to work with the excellent medical team who will no doubt have Cillian back playing for Mayo as soon as he is physically able to.”
“In the meantime we wish Cillian all the best in his recovery and look forward to seeing him again very soon in the Green and Red of Mayo.”
