Stalwart Dasovic adored in Perth
O’Reilly is enjoying his time at Airdrieonians this season. Photos: John Steven/ Airdrieonians FC
“I would turn over in bed and I would be in agony.”
Euan O’Reilly would slowly sit up and wish that the pain would disappear. It wouldn’t. For quite some time it wouldn’t go away.
He would get showered, changed, pack his things and be met with the same four walls of the McDiarmid Park physio room.
“There were times when it crosses your mind that you won’t play again,” O’Reilly reflects. “I just couldn’t see an end to it.
“It was probably quite hard on my family as well. I’d be coming home most nights, not crying, but a bit downbeat.
“All of the boys were buzzing going out to training and I was sitting with the four walls of the physio room.
“It wasn’t like I was getting any better, either. So it was tough.”
As a young player coming through at St Johnstone, O’Reilly was ticking all of the right boxes. A crafty winger whose first intention was always to drive at the opposition and beat his man to the byline.
Manager at the time Tommy Wright even pitched him in for a 2017 pre-season friendly against Sunderland. It was only a second half substitute appearance but it went well and fuelled his motivation further. Saints had won 3-0.
“Just after my 17th birthday I came on against Sunderland,” smiled O’Reilly. “We beat them and I think I got 20 minutes.
“David Wotherspoon scored a couple and sat the goalie down with one of them. All of my mates were at that game and it was a pinch yourself kind of moment.
“I was a Saints fan growing up so it was even surreal going into training every day. There were the likes of Steven Anderson, Murray Davidson, Liam Craig.
“The first pre-season I went into, I thought: ‘I’m not embarrassing myself here.’
“I think I was impressing the manager, the coaching staff and I did have a good few months of training with the first team. It was brilliant.”
Saints supporters were excited to see more of O’Reilly but they would not. As Christmas of that year approached, something did not feel quite right. He was still playing for the under-20 side but was being bugged by persistent pain in his groin area.
He was later diagnosed with osteitis pubis, which causes inflammation of the joint of the two major pelvic bones at the front of the pelvis.
“It was always giving me bother,” O’Reilly said. “I would get up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet or turn over in bed and I would be in agony.
“Some days I would think I was fine to train. I would do a warmup, maybe push off on my left foot and then think: ‘Nope, I’m done.’
“The same cycle would happen again.
“It wasn’t like I had broken my leg and you do this and that for eight months and you are back. It was such a weird injury.
“Brian Easton had something quite similar to me. I looked up to him as a senior player and took a lot from his approach. I would speak to him and he would tell me that it is really hard some days. But you just keep trying.”
Try he did. He was determined and, with the aid of the occasional cortisone injection, the former Community School of Auchterarder student was back on the pitch and out on loan at Lowland League side BSC Glasgow. It went well, but the pain was lingering.
A 2019 loan spell at Airdrieonians followed where O’Reilly admits he just could not get going. Still, the pain was lingering. And then the decision was taken to operate.
“I was full-time for three years but for two-and-a-half it was stop-start, on and off, injections. It led to an operation,” explains O’Reilly, who thanked Saints for all their help.
But unfortunately his time was up at the Perth club. He moved on last year which was tough to take, especially for someone who grew up locally in Auchterarder and supported the club as a boy.
“Moving away from St Johnstone was pretty hard,” he admits. “We weren’t allowed to go in because of COVID and I remember the phone call. You just think that your world has ended completely. That is genuinely how it feels for a few days or a week but you get over it.
“If I wasn’t injured, I’d like to think I could have pushed on more and got in about the first team. There are a lot of the boys who have gone on to do well. Ali McCann? He is a superstar.”
Throughout the years O’Reilly has never given up on his dream, though. The operation was a success, the pain now gone and he is simply loving being back on a football pitch.
Still only 20, he signed for Airdrieonians last summer.
To begin with he was required to bide his time for regular starts and he laughed: “I was thinking: ‘Any chance?’ I’d gone through the injury but still wasn’t playing.”
He continued: “The physios down at Airdrie were brilliant. Last summer, when the football wasn’t on, I had a full-time programme.
“I wanted to really give this a bash, try my hardest to give myself the platform to play. My injury is now completely fine.
“I get through games no problem. I’m not in any pain. So the medical team deserves a shout-out.
“Since the restart I think I’ve played about every minute and that has been quality. The team has picked up a good bit of form.
“I’ve played wide all my career but the last few games I’ve dropped to centre midfield, which has been totally different.
“Airdrie is a big club. I played a few times when the fans were in. We’ve got a great set of fans who support the team.
“And we have a real chance of getting into the playoffs and pushing on. I’m really happy.”
And for O’Reilly, being happy back out on the football pitch is what it is all about.
Midfielder Nick Dasovic was a true fans’favourite during his time in Perth.
And now St Johnstone supporters have started an online petition calling for him to be inducted into the club’s hall of fame.
Sam Miller, host of the Dogger Saints podcast, got the ball rolling on the idea and has since gathered more than 170 signatures.
“We were amazed he wasn’t already in the hall of fame,”Sam told the PA earlier this week.
“After speaking to him on our St Johnstone podcast just before the cup final, Dan [Williams] and I realised that he was certainly a man that should be remembered officially in the club’s records.
“Being the club’s highest capped player and scoring our first ever goal in a national cup final - in addition to a first winning goal at Parkhead for a generation and a goal against Monaco we feel that he is richly deserving of a spot in the club’s hall of fame.
“I’ve contacted the club and was informed that if there is enough fan interest then this will be considered and put to a vote.
“So we’ve started a petition. If we can rally enough names we’ll present it to the board for his inclusion.”
Canadian stalwart Dasovic turned out for Saints between 1996 and 2002, making 154 starts, four substitute appearances and scoring six goals in all competitions.
Sam added:“The word ‘legend’gets thrown about far too easily but in this instance it’s absolutely justified.”