FORWARD Cathal O’Neill played with the Galway minor side and hopes to make his championship debut for London against his home county. He chats to Niall O’Sullivan ahead of Sunday's SFC clash at Ruislip.
How have you been finding London?
I came over here in October and said I would play a bit of football. Luckily Paul [Coggins] gave me a shout and asked me to come in. It is just a bit sweeter that it is against my home county as well. I am training hard and keeping good here.
Did you plan to hook up with London before you travelled?
I didn’t. But I have a brother here who has played for London for a few years – Eoin. He was training and said that if I kept my head down playing with a club I might get a chance and I did.
Who would you know from your days in the Galway minor team?
I know a few of the boys who are in the panel, like Fiontán O Curraoin, Thomas Flynn, Tom Healy so it will be a good day.
Is it hard to get used to the idea of playing your own county after representing them?
It has not really hit me yet. We have been concentrating on our own team and getting our game plan right, so I have not really thought about them too much.
What have you made of the club-level competition in London?
There are a lot of games that might not go ahead, but I had spoken to my brother before I came over and he told me that a lot of the boys put in a lot of commitment, so there is no drop in level compared to the football back home.
Do you train as much here as you did back in Galway?
I am training more nights a week here. The commitment level is very high and all the lads put in the effort, so we will be looking to get what we can out of it with everything we have put into this.
Is there a lot of pressure in the dressing room after London’s performance last year?
Yeah. The lads had a lot of expectations going into the league. But there were a lot of injuries and things like that. Everyone is settled now, though, and they know they have a job to do come the 25th.
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