O’Connor has eye on shock of all shocks
DAIRE O’CONNOR reckons he might just possess the secret weapon to help UCD shock Dundalk tonight — his cúpla focail. ‘Maybe we’ll speak Irish on Friday and try to distract them,’ the 21year-old joked. Originally from the Baile Mhúirne Gaeltacht village in west Cork, O’Connor moved to Wicklow as a child when his mother got a job as the Irish teacher in the local school in Arklow town. At home, he and his two sisters conversed primarily as Gaeilge but, outside those four walls, it was practically unheard. Whenever he did return to his roots in west Cork, he found himself caught between two worlds, although it wasn’t until arriving at UCD to read Irish and Computing that O’Connor decided to drop the original spelling of his surname — Ó Conchubhair. ‘Some people thought we were two different people,’ he explained. ‘I was enrolled through my English name, so the club had to use English from then on. Also, it was more convenient for people to say and spell.’ There will be nothing easy about the task at hand for the First Division champions at Oriel Park this evening. Dundalk effectively claimed their fourth top flight crown in five seasons against Derry City on Tuesday (12 points clear with four games remaining and a far superior goal difference to Cork City) and now have eyes set on a second league and Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup double under Stephen Kenny. ‘They set the bar, they’re the gold standard, the way the play and the set-up they have,’ O’Connor accepted. Dundalk may be on for a double, but UCD have already completed a treble of their own with success in the First Division and also in the CUFL and Collingwood Cup on the college scene. Manager Collie O’Neill has been the one to mastermind the Students’ rise and, after knocking out Waterford in the quarter-finals, they are not lacking belief. ‘If we can get an early goal maybe,’ O’Connor added. ‘We’re going into it with confidence. I don’t think people will be expecting us to win but we will be expected to put it up to them and we hope to live up to that at least.’
The 2018/19 season for Third Level Football was launched at the FAI National Training Centre with RUSTLERS continuing their promotion of all competitions for the second year. Over 110 teams are set to lace up their boots and the first ball is set to be kicked on Tuesday, October 9.