Rising Son: Aidan O’Shea
12:19, 19 Nov 2009
Shane Stapleton
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For a county that that is second only to Kerry in terms of All Ireland appearances over the past 20 years, Mayo’s inability to bridge the gap from their last title in 1951 must feel like a slow torture.
There again seemed to be hope in 2009 when Mayo, through Peadar Gardiner’s beautiful late point, beat Galway in Pearse Stadium for the first time in 42 years to win the Nestor Cup. Having lost by 2-12 to 1-14 in 2008, Mayo gave Galway and exact taste of that medicine a year on. Job done, and a first Connacht title for new star Aidan O’Shea. But Galway, as was proved over the course of the season, were ultimately a beaten docket in ’09 so Mayo’s win set them up for a fall against Meath.
That the young forward’s surname, O’Shea, comes from having two Kerry-native parents will hold little surprise for those who have seen him show the talents of a Kingdom starlet. Football comes easy to him. In 2008, he played against the county of his parents in the All Ireland minor semi-final, and broke his thumb. But it didn’t keep him out of the final. “I had a cast on it until Tuesday before the final and I was on a bone stimulator,” O’Shea told Fired Up. “The injection the morning of the game worked well but I was worried it might have caused some damage for the replay but it was fine.”
He went on to be named man of the match in the All Ireland minor football final against Tyrone, but it was only enough to earn his side a replay. One that they lost to the Red Hand County.
“You keep replaying it in your head. It was hitting all during the week with people coming up to me saying hard luck. We had the chances in the second half and we could have won it, but Tyrone really pushed on in extra time and they deserved it in the end.”
Mayo again, having not won at that grade since 1985, had lost a fifth minor All Ireland final in a row. “When you see Mayo losing finals it is hard to take. But, my brother Shane has an All Ireland under-21 so I want to at least match that. As a current Mayo player you can’t really think about all that. We can’t change the past so we have to go on and start winning All Irelands for the county.” The 19-year-old saw Mayo’s minor lose a sixth consecutive minor final appearance in 2009.
But O’Shea recovered from his 2008 loss to Tyrone, and had to so in double-quick time as his club, Breaffy, played in a Mayo league title decider the day after that replayed minor final. “I woke up Sunday morning and I said to myself there is no point thinking about what happened. I came on in the second half and scored a goal and Robbie [Hennelly, a minor Mayo teammate] saved a penalty. It was a good way to get the loss out of the system.”
His partnership in the full-forward line of the Mayo senior team in 2009 was likened to the ‘Twin Towers’ for Kerry, namely Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh. The latter will not be lining out for Kerry in 2010, after signing for AFL side St Kilda’s, and it may well be a path that O’Shea also treads in the future.
He will shortly head of Down Under for a two week trial with Melbourne Aussie Rules clubs Richmond and the Western Bulldogs. “I’m on trial with the clubs out there but I’ll be examining them as well, to see if I like it out there,” he told The Mayo News. “I’m looking at it as a possible option for down the road if things were to work out, but I have committed to Mayo for the next year and I’ve spoken to John O’Mahony on it.
“I really don’t know how I will get on. I know it won’t be easy but I’ll go and see what happens. I’ll be coming back in early December and returning to my studies in DIT and preparing for the FBD.
“It’s an opportunity and sure to be an experience. Of course a two-week trip to Australia in the middle of the Irish winter is hard to turn down too.”
And so Mayo are faced with the threat of losing another star in the making, having lost Pearce Hanley to the Brisbane Lions a couple of years ago. “It’s my dream to play senior football for my county,” said O’Shea in 2008. Mayo might not have too many years to help them reach theirs.
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