The rise and rise of Chris O'Connor
November 30, 2007
Chris O'Connor enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks in 2007, culminating in his first championship start for Meath in the memorable All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Tyrone at Croke Park. His elevation to Colm Coyle's squad has seen him join an elite group of Ballinabrackey players who have represented their county at the highest level.
Chris O'Connor sometimes has to pinch himself. Within the past year, he has gone from playing junior 'B' football for Ballinabrackey to playing in an All-Ireland semi-final with Meath. Fairytale stuff.
The Waterford-based student, who only turned 20 on September 19 last, admits that his progress over the past 12 months has surpassed all his expectations. "I still can't believe how far I've come. If someone had said to me this time last year that I would be playing for Meath, I wouldn't have believed it," he says.
"I played in the three matches against Galway, Tyrone and Cork. It all happened so quickly that it didn't really register with me at the time, but now I realise what a great honour and achievement it was to play for my county in such important games."
Although small in stature, O'Connor - or 'Juicy' as he's known to his team-mates - is a fierce competitor and it was his performances at corner back for the Meath under 21s last spring that caught the attention of senior manager Colm Coyle. Meath had impressive victories over Dublin and Kildare in the Leinster under 21 championship before they suffered a surprise 0-10 to 1-10 defeat to Offaly in the semi-final at Tullamore.
"It was a big disappointment to lose that game, especially after we had beaten Dublin and Kildare. They got a goal just after half-time and we never really recovered from that," he recalls.
"We had a very good team on paper - six or seven of them were established seniors by then. But Offaly were the better team on the day and we can't have any excuses."
O'Connor was subsequently called up to the Meath senior panel for their National League clash with Wexford on Easter Sunday in Wexford Park. The Royals went down to a heavy defeat, but they still earned promotion from Division 2B on scoring difference and also qualified for the semi-final where they beat Monaghan before going on to claim the Division 2 title at the expense of Roscommon.
Chris agrees that the loss to Wexford marked a turning point in Meath's season. "I suppose you would call it a watershed result. We were terrible that day and it was probably the wake-up call we needed."
Meath gained great confidence from winning Division 2 and after opening their championship campaign with a surprisingly comfortable victory over Kildare, they left nobody in any doubt that they were a force to be reckoned with once again by pushing Dublin all the way in two titanic battles at Croke Park.
"Even though we were eventually beaten, we took a lot of encouragement from the performances against Dublin. They have been one of the top teams in the country over the past few years, and we were unlucky not to beat them the first day. If Graham Geraghty's goal hadn't been disallowed and Brian Farrell had been available, I think we would have won."
He continues: "Everyone knows that Meath's record in the All-Ireland qualifiers hasn't been good, but we were determined to put that right this year. The day after we lost to Dublin, we met up in Bettystown and you could sense that there was something there. We realised that there was still an All-Ireland title to be played for and we made a pledge to give it our best shot."
The Royals got their season back on track with wins over Down and Fermanagh. Then came the stirring victory over Galway in Portlaoise - a game young O'Connor is unlikely to forget in a hurry.
"I made my debut that day, coming on as a sub for Stephen McGabhann. It came as a total shock to me when Colm (Coyle) told me I was going on because both Stephen and Cormac McGuinness had already been brought on in place of the injured Eoin Harrington and Seamus Kenny. I never expected the management to bring on a third replacement in the backs," he says.
Meath returned to Croke Park to face a much-fancied Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final and with Harrington ruled out, O'Connor got his first start at corner back. Against all the odds, the Royals emerged victorious, making it a day to remember for Ballinabrackey's finest.
"To start that game was a huge thing in itself, but to end up on the winning side was absolutely massive. We played brilliantly and it was definitely the highlight of my football career to date."
Chris didn't start the All-Ireland semi-final loss to Cork, but saw action late in the game when he was brought on to mark Donnacha O'Connor. Despite the manner of that defeat, and Cork's subsequent trouncing by Kerry in the All-Ireland final, O'Connor is convinced Meath can challenge for the Sam Maguire in the next few years.
"This is only the beginning for this team. We made huge strides this year and I'm expecting us to improve further next year. Our aim in 2008 is to win the Leinster championship, and I think that is a realistic goal."
Chris' meteoric rise has given his club Ballinabrackey a big boost. After all, it's not every year that the small Offaly-border outfit has someone on the Meath team. Since Peter Moore starred in Meath's 1967 All-Ireland triumph, only Colm Brazil and JJ McCormack have made the grade.
Ballinabrackey won the last of their four junior championships in 1985 and have been knocking on the door without success since then. 2007 was another frustrating year for the green and golds who, it must be said, were severely weakened by the absence of two of their leading lights, John Curry and Trevor Bannon.
"They were two big losses alright," notes Chris, who is a first cousin of former Coralstown/Kinnegad and Westmeath star John Fleming.
"John was injured for most of the year and Trevor went off travelling. Both of them won All-Ireland junior medals with Meath a few years ago, and we couldn't afford to be without them."
The tone for a disappointing championship campaign was set when Ballinabrackey lost their opening Group C game to Drumbaragh at Boardsmill. Manager Darren Bannon and his selectors Danny Flynn, Shay Curry and the aforementioned Colm Brazil rallied the players for their next assignment against Skryne's second team, and a late surge saw them take the spoils.
A second defeat against a strong Navan O'Mahony's outfit followed before a draw with Slane in Dunderry ended Ballinabrackey's chances of qualifying for the knock-out stages. They ended the campaign with a victory over Kildalkey, but the result was irrelevant by then.
Ballinabrackey also struggled in Division 3 of the All-County League, but Chris is upbeat about the future and takes particular encouragement from the club's recent achievements at underage and junior 'B' level.
"We made a great start to the league by beating Longwood in our first game. But Division 3 is a tough division and we were competing against the likes of Ballinlough, who are a senior club.
"While we were disappointed with this year's performances, everyone in the club believes we can win a junior championship in the next couple of years. We've won a few under 16 and under 17 'B' championships recently and our junior 'B' team has been doing well also. Our younger players have great potential and hopefully we'll see them fulfilling that with the junior team in next few years."
O'Connor is studying Recreation and Leisure at Waterford IT which he hopes will lead to a career in PE teaching. A past pupil of St. Mary's Secondary School in Edenderry, he was back in the school doing teaching practice when they won the All-Ireland Colleges 'B' title last April.
'Juicy' would love to sample All-Ireland glory with the Royals in the near future, but for now he can put his feet up and reflect on a year when he emerged as one of the county's brightest prospects.
Most Read Stories