Connacht football final hero Diarmuid Murtagh has revealed how an eye injury sustained last summer almost ended his career.

Murtagh picked up the injury during an innocuous collision at training and had to undergo surgery as the vision in his left eye deteriorated alarmingly. On Sunday, he calmly slotted the only goal of the Connacht final as Roscommon defeated Galway to claim the Nestor Cup for the second time in three years.

“Just when the final whistle went, it was very emotional for me,” he told RTE. “When I was sitting in the hospital bed after eye surgery I didn’t think I’d ever get back playing. It means a lot to me.

“I’m delighted that the manager had a lot of trust in me as well. There’s a lot of competition for places and they could have picked any of the other corner forwards in training to play there but he backed me today and I’m delighted.

“Anthony [Cunningham] and the selectors have been very patient with me, letting me come back when I felt comfortable so it’s emotional now, days like this is why I worked to come back.”

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