Sport

Keegan and Connolly bury hatchet for the sake of Ireland

Mayo and Ireland star Lee Keegan pictured at Croke Park on Wednesday<br />Picture by Sportsfile&nbsp;
Mayo and Ireland star Lee Keegan pictured at Croke Park on Wednesday
Picture by Sportsfile 
Mayo and Ireland star Lee Keegan pictured at Croke Park on Wednesday
Picture by Sportsfile 

MAYO'S Lee Keegan maintains there is no lingering bad blood between him and Ireland colleague Diarmuid Connolly, despite their furious Championship bust-up.

Keegan is Ireland’s vice-captain for Saturday week’s International Rules test with Australia and Dublin star Connolly has also been included in the match-day 23. But it’s only a matter of weeks since the pair infamously clashed, when Connolly was sent-off for punching Keegan during their drawn All-Ireland semi-final tie. 

Connolly’s red card was ultimately rescinded, but only after an exhaustive appeals process, and the talented forward was so jaded that he performed poorly in the replay and was taken off. Keegan added to the ill feeling by subsequently admitting in an interview that he deliberately provoked Connolly, saying: “I’m going to try to stop him any way I can to win the game for Mayo.” 

But Keegan, who picked up his third Allstar award last weekend, insisted there’s no hostilities between the pair anymore, having parked their differences for the good of Ireland. Asked if there were peace talks held with Connolly, Keegan joked that it hadn’t come to blows: “I’m still looking okay, so far anyway,” said a smiling Keegan. 

“No, there are no problems there. We’re representing our country. What we do when in our county colours is totally separate to what we do with Ireland. That’s my main feeling. I’m not apprehensive at all about it. We’re both adults at this stage. We both know how to deal with it. I was happy enough with the way the whole thing was dealt with.

“There is always a bit of awkwardness between players, not even from a Mayo/Dublin point of view, but just that you can be quite nervous coming into an environment you’re not used to. Playing for your county is easy because you’re all close together. So this is different, the first three or four weeks is quite nerve-wracking, but once you get over that, you look forward to the weeks ahead.”

Ireland boss Joe Kernan was equally insistent that no old Championship grudges have been allowed to fester in the camp. Dublin’s Philly McMahon and Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea, both included in Kernan’s squad, clashed in that drawn game in August too, with O’Shea claiming he was headbutted.

“We’ve all been there, I’ve been there myself,” said Kernan. 

“I had battles with Tyrone for years as a manager, but you know what, the best players I ever took in when I was manager of Ulster were the Tyrone players. We hear these myths about, ‘oh, I hate him and he’s no good’. The reality is that when they cross that white line, they just want to play football. And truth be told, we are all the same.

“We went out last week for a few beers and we were only on the bus when the noise got up really good. They were already having the craic on the bus.”

Keegan and Mayo eventually exited the Championship after a replay defeat to Dublin. The Mayo players then caused surprise by ousting joint managers Noel Connelly and Pat Holmes. Keegan accepted there’ll be extra pressure to perform in 2016 after the heave. All-Ireland winning Corofin club boss Stephen Rochford is all set to take the reins.

“There will be added pressure on us,” said Keegan. 

“But I think we’re capable of handling it. We have some big characters there and good leaders.”

Keegan’s Mayo colleague, prolific forward Cillian O’Connor is expected to miss the Allianz League campaign following knee surgery.

“It’s a huge blow for us,” admitted Keegan. 

“But it’s something that’s been coming for a long time as well. He’s been struggling for fitness for the last few months.”