2008/09 Player of the season countdown

#17. Conor Shannon

Apps: 10

Like many who find themselves at the wrong end of this countdown, Conor's season has been problematic with injuries. In this case, his shoulder.

It took him about 10 minutes to register Banter’s first unofficial goal of the season, in a friendly against Athletico Croydon. It took him about 2 more to get his second, too. That shoulder injury later kept him out for about 5 weeks, along with whatever else it is that he does on a Sunday instead of playing football, which saw him not play again until December. His substitute appearance against Carlton early in that month could and would have brought his first of the season as he caused problems from deep, running on to a Euro cross which was eventually taken off his toe by a defender, who found the net instead of him anyway. A player who takes up fantastic positions going forward, if he wasn’t injured, made training and games more often then maybe he would have opened his account at some stage.

A gritty performance against Santos (1-0) was a huge highlight where he really put a stint in for the team and it paid off. It was a different role having to track back and defend deep, but he did it admirably in a memorable performance. Unforgettably, his shoulder charge during the first half in the penalty area on a guy twice his width seemed fair but eventually saw Santos gain an indirect free-kick, rather bizarrely.

Never afraid to tell you how much space he is in, he will put himself on the line for the team. This was illustrated in what would be his final game of the season against Oakfield. A 50/50 saw Conor come off worse and injure the troublesome shoulder that had kept him out earlier in the campaign. He stayed on, kept running, and went in for another 50/50 and came off worse, yet again aggravating the injury. It is testament to his commitment that he wanted to play on despite the injury which eventually got the better of him.

Conor will play a big part in 2009/10, just so long as he wants to.