Kilkenny captain Willie O'Connor revealed after yesterday's All-Ireland victory that he sustained two cracked ribs in the first half of the match. The Glenmore man was involved in a collision about twenty minutes into the game and it was discovered during the half-time break that two of his ribs were cracked. However, he insisted on going back out for the second half despite Brian Cody and his fellow selectors' reservations. His rib cage was strapped and he was given two pain-killing injections to dull the ache. "I knew at that stage we were going to win the All-Ireland and wild horses wouldn't drag me away from being there at the finish," he said afterwards.
O'Connor, whose brother Eddie captained the Cats to All-Ireland victory in 1993, also revealed that he battled against blurred vision for most of the second half because of his injury, but that will come as some surprise to the legion of fans in Croke Park yesterday as O'Connor played magnificently for the whole 70 minutes. However, the inspirational captain was filled with mixed emotions when lifting the McCarthy Cup as he remembered his mother Bridie who passed away earlier this year. "In what has been the saddest year of my life, I hope Mammy is looking down today and is happy," he told the cheering crowds. No doubt she is.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
