Mortimer ruled out for season
Mike Finnerty
MAYO manager James Horan will be without the county’s second-highest scorer of the last fifty years, Conor Mortimer, for the rest of the season after it was confirmed that he will require surgery on a knee ligament injury.
The 28 years-old Shrule/Glencorrib corner-forward sustained the injury to his left knee while training with the University of Ulster Jordanstown squad on 3G astroturf before Christmas.
Scans subsequently confirmed that significant damage had been done and James Horan confirmed to The Mayo News last night that Mortimer will be out ‘until the end of the summer’ as a result. He is due to undergo surgery in the coming days and is not expected to play competitively until next September.
Mortimer, who has made 89 appearances for the Mayo senior team and scored 14-359 (including 0-20 last season), is second only to Joe Corcoran in the Mayo GAA scoring charts since 1960.
He explained earlier this month that he has had no cruciate in his left knee for the last seven years but has managed to play on by building up muscle around the joint to compensate and stabilise it.
“I might have to drawn a line under the season altogether and that’s not the greatest thought in the world,” added Mortimer, who is studying for a masters degree in sports management in UUJ.
Meanwhile, Donal Vaughan also looks set to miss the entire duration of the Allianz National Football League after he underwent surgery yesterday (Monday) on a persistent groin problem.
The 22 years-old, who played in 14 of Mayo’s 15 competitive fixtures last year, has been sidelined since last August in an effort to try and cure the injury.
However, despite working intensively in recent weeks with Mayo’s new medical team, which is headed up Dr Sean Moffatt, the Ballinrobe defender has been forced to have an operation which could rule him out for approximately eight weeks.
The Mayo management team will also be without two of their midfield options for the opening rounds of the NFL as Breaffy’s Seamus O’Shea (ankle) and Charlestown’s Tom Parsons (groin) continue their rehabilitation.
