Friday Interview: Tomas O'Connor
March 08, 2013
Kildare's Tomas O'Connor and Seanie Johnston leaving the field at half time during the league game against Kerry at Newbridge ©INPHO/Cathal Noonan
A little over 30 years since his father of the same name starred at midfield on the Offaly team that famously ended Kerry's five-in-a-row dream, the Clane clubman is now blazing his own trail as an inter-county star. Ultimately, O'Connor would love to emulate his father by winning an All-Ireland medal with Kildare who have had made an excellent start to the season by capturing the O'Byrne Cup and winning their first three Allianz League games.
Not only has O'Connor pocketed an O'Byrne medal already this year, he can also claim to be a Sigerson Cup winner after helping DIT to victory over UCC in last month's final in Athlone.
"I haven't lost a game so far this year," he laughs.
"I can't remember the last time I got to March without losing a game. I don't think it's ever happened to me before. Hopefully the winning run will continue for another while."
The 26-year-old was thrilled to be part of the first DIT team to win the blue riband prize of third level colleges football. The Dublin outfit ousted the holders and favourites DCU in the semi-final before accounting for UCC in the decider by 3-8 to 0-7.
"The Sigerson is a fantastic medal to have. I haven't too many to my name, so it means a lot to me.
It's a brilliant competition - the standard is very high. It was a privilege to play with top county players like Aidan O'Shea, Jason Doherty, Darran O'Sullivan and David Givney," says O'Connor, who went back to college last September to study Leisure Management.
"DCU were the favourites and rightly so, but we knew it was in us to beat them. We then beat UCC in the final which was another great result considering how successful they've been in the Sigerson down through the years."
O'Connor opted to play for Kildare in the O'Byrne Cup and one of the teams they defeated on their way to winning the pre-season competition was DIT! His standout performance came in the final against Dublin at Parnell Park on January 26 when he scored 1-2 in extra-time to inspire the Lilywhites to a 1-16 to 0-17 victory.
"I put my name forward for Kildare in the O'Byrne Cup because I wanted to keep my place for the league. We had done a lot of tough training before Christmas and it stood to us. We beat DIT, IT Carlow and Wexford in the group stages, Offaly in the semi-final and Dublin in the final," the towering number 14 recalls.
Kildare have built on their O'Byrne Cup success by winning their first three Allianz League games against Donegal, reigning Allianz League champions Cork and Kerry last weekend. This Sunday, they return to Croke Park - the scene of their first round victory over the All-Ireland champions - for a top-of-the-table encounter with Dublin.
"It's officially a home game for us, but Newbridge's capacity is reduced and that's why it's fixed for Croke Park instead," Tomas explains.
"We don't mind playing in Croke Park - it's where every inter-county footballer wants to play at the end of the day. We've done well to get to this stage of the year without losing a game, but this is going to be our toughest test yet. Dublin are going extremely well, they're going even better than us, and they won't want to lose to us for the second time in the space of a few weeks.
"We'd love to reach the semi-finals of the league, but there's still a long way to go and things can change very quickly. Last year, we lost our first two games to Tyrone and Monaghan but turned it around to win Division 2. Who's to say the opposite won't happen to us this year. We're taking each game as it comes."
O'Connor, who is a brother-in-law of former Kildare defender and fellow Clane clubman David Lyons, believes the emergence of young players such as Niall Kelly, Daniel Flynn and Paddy Brophy has heightened competition for places in Kieran McGeeney's team. He also claims former Wexford manager Jason Ryan has been a major addition to the set-up.
"Jason has definitely added something to it. He has basically taken over the role Niall Carew (who is now in charge of Ryan's native Waterford) had and we're delighted to have him. He takes quite a bit of the training and has some good ideas. He had great success with Wexford and knows what he's talking about."
After the controversy which surrounded his transfer from Cavan last year, Seanie Johnston's outstanding form has been one of the big pluses for the Lilywhites so far this season. In last Sunday's thrilling victory over Kerry at Newbridge, O'Connor made a trademark catch on the edge of the square before feeding Johnston for a well-taken goal, and suffice to say, Kildare fans hope it's a snapshot of things to come later this year.
"Seanie is a lovely lad," says Tomas, "he's playing well and it's nice to see him getting a few good performances under his belt. He's back to doing what he does best which is great to see after what he went through last year."
Admitting that Kildare have something to prove after last year's All-Ireland quarter-final capitulation at the hands of Cork, the blond-haired Clane powerhouse already has one eye on the Leinster championship and their first round meeting with the county his father Tomas, uncle Liam and second cousins Richie and Matt brought All-Ireland glory to.
"I'm looking forward to it already," he says of the June 1 Croke Park showdown with Emmett McDonnell's charges.
"We played Offaly in last year's championship, but I'm not sure who my father was shouting for that day. We're still trying to convert him! Offaly have a huge tradition as everybody knows, and they're better organised this year. They gave us a fair rattle in the O'Byrne Cup semi-final. It's always a tough game…"
Tomas is clearly enjoying his second coming as a Kildare senior, having first featured as an 18-year-old under Padraig Nolan before a series of injury setbacks threatened to scupper his inter-county career.
"I played with Kildare all the way up and was brought onto the senior panel by Padraig Nolan in 2005. I played championship under him and under John Crofton the following year. Then in 2007, I tore my cruciate and cartilage. I had five operations on my right knee and was out of the game for two years as a result," he explains.
"I tore the cruciate and then I came back eight months later and tore cartilage straight away, and that took me a long time to get back. I ended up tearing cartilage a couple of more times, and then I tore the posterior cruciate in my left knee. It was a difficult time in my career."
O'Connor eventually made his return to the Kildare colours with the county junior side. He rejoined the senior panel in 2010 and has established himself as one of the best target men in the game over the past 12 months or so, having been better known as a midfielder before this.
"I still play midfield for the club, but I'm also comfortable at full forward. I played there a few times when John Crofton was manager and Kieran (McGeeney) has me in there full-time now."
Now in his sixth year as manager, Kieran McGeeney is under more pressure than ever to deliver those elusive Leinster and All-Ireland titles to the Shortgrass County. Will this finally be their year?
Tomas replies: "It's all about getting performances. We had to reassess where we were going after the Cork defeat last year. We have a point to prove. We're trying to develop a winning habit and to be more consistent. The fans crave success, we crave success and hopefully we'll get it. But as said I already, it's a case of one game at a time." Tweet
