WHILE DUBLIN WERE serving notice to the rest of the country that they mean business again this season with a Leinster final dismantling of Meath, Aidan O’Shea wasn’t watching.
The talismanic Mayo man was lining out for Breaffy but managed to catch the Dubs’ highlight that night.
“I watched 15 minutes of it and went to bed,” O’Shea admits. He made sure to catch Cork, however.
“I saw the Sligo game as preparation for the Galway game and watched the Munster final out of pure interest. Both good teams, Sligo will be hoping to get an upset and obviously Cork will be disappointed after the Munster final. They’ve wrung the changes for this weekend and that might be good for them,” says O’Shea.
James Horan has thrust O’Shea into a centre forward role this summer but the Breaffy man is taking it in his stride.
“It’s not really new to me, I played there a lot in my underage career. It wasn’t something new, it something James asked me to do against Galway. I found a lot of space because Gary O’Donnell wanted to stay in the centre of the pitch to protect his defence. It benefited both ways for us.
“My work is 25 to 30 yards further up the pitch which helps when I’m fouled because I’m in scoring range for Cillian. It’s important to have a presence in the half-forward line and win ball. Also it’s a huge kick out option too because there aren’t many centre backs who will follow their man out for a kick out.”
How far are Mayo off top gear?
“We’re pretty happy. We’re building nicely. People ask whether it’s by design or not but for us it’s by design. We stuttered in the right way at the right time of year and we’re hitting Croke Park with a lot more to give.”
