Listen, Conor Loftus’ intervention in Castlebar on Saturday was huge – absolutely huge.
But Aidan O’Shea was man of the match. End of.
It’s tough not to get caught up in the moment. Mayo were struggling – by Jesus, they were really struggling – and in danger of going out of the championship altogether when Loftus sprang from the bench and hammered home an absolute bullet of a goal to edge them in front against Derry.
To top it all off, he caps it by jogging away, licking his fingers and turning to face the ball as if what he did wasn’t completely and utterly spectacular.
Goal of the weekend? Look back at @MayoGAA's Conor Loftus superb strike last Saturday in the All-Ireland Football Round 2A Qualifier v Derry pic.twitter.com/n5y2cYMn1k
— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 3, 2017
RTÉ got so carried away with the young man’s achievements that they went and awarded him man of the match.
That didn’t go down too well on Monday’s GAA Hour.
“Benny Tierney gave Loftus man of the match and, whilst giving him man of the match, he admitted that Loftus had only touched the ball four times,” Colm Parkinson said in disbelief on the football show.
“This game had gone to extra minutes. 70 minutes, another 20, an action-packed game, Aidan O’Shea ran the show at midfield, an all-action display and the co-commentator gave Loftus man of the match based on four touches.
“He came on in the 56th minute so he played 14 minutes of normal time and then extra time but enough for Benny Tierney to give him man of the match.”
It was also a touch strange though because it meant that Aidan O’Shea was overlooked when, in reality, the Mayo giant was literally colossal.
Back in midfield, the Breaffy man was dynamite. He had men hanging off him for the majority of the game but, in the air and on the ground, they simply couldn’t cope.
It was an all-consuming display from O’Shea back in the starting team for the first time in a while and his dominance in the middle really put to bed any idea that he should be anywhere other than midfield.
The man himself was modest enough to compare his playing style to how he’s used in basketball – basically a work horse.
His performance against Derry drew plaudits aplenty.
Colm Parkinson:
“Aidan O’Shea, I’ve said it a hundred times, on the field does not have an ego. Aidan O’Shea plays for the team, he works hard and he’s a midfielder – that’s his best position.
“If you play him at full forward, you’re judging him by standards that he can’t continuously reach. He’s not accurate, he’s not a shooter, he’ll never turn and score.
“But out around the middle of the field, you’re almost guaranteed to get from Aidan O’Shea 100 per cent effort, a workmanlike display, a battle and he’ll win his own area and drive his team on.”
Conán Doherty
“He was unbelievable. He was very hard to keep a handle of. He probably showed the country that he should be in midfield and you saying about him not having an ego, I think he only had one shot the whole game and he scored that off his right foot.
“He did so much running forward, he was like a wrecking ball. Him and Parsons completely dominated the middle third. Young [Conor] McAtamney was picking him up for spells but he couldn’t get a handle of him. O’Shea won a lot of frees that Cillian O’Connor dispatched of and every time he drove up the field, he was nearly too selfless, always looking to pop it off to another shooter who’d miss anyway.
“He was just a bull coming forward, it was the best I’ve seen him in a few years.”
Listen to the full Mayo analysis from 33:33 below.
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