O’Sullivan seizes the day
Ask Darran O’Sullivan. Having shaken off the supersub tag to captain Kerry this season, when referee Marty Duffy called time on yesterday’s game, the Kingdom skipper was, by his own admission, lost in the moment.
“It’s an amazing feeling – when the whistle went, I was overcome with emotion, to be honest with you. I didn’t know what to do with myself, I was wandering back and forth. It’s a great feeling.”
The captain’s armband was another source of pride.
“It’s great not alone to be playing with this team but the fact that I got the chance to lead them out and go up and collect Sam. I suppose you could say it’s every boy’s dream but in reality you don’t think it’s ever going to come through.”
O’Sullivan’s wasn’t the only green and gold dream that came through yesterday. Tadhg Kennelly had signposted the intention to try to win an All-Ireland senior medal as a motivating factor behind his move back to Kerry, and his captain paid tribute to the former Sydney Swan and his influence on his teammates.
“Just his attitude and the way he goes about his business, really,” said O’Sullivan. “He’s very vocal around the place, as if he’d been there for years.
“From the very first session he was never shy about giving us opinions and ideas about various things, and his own enthusiasm and ideas helped to freshen things up for the rest of us as well.”
O’Sullivan’s manager said afterwards that it didn’t feel like a four-point game. His captain confessed that the collisions and running had taken their toll, not to mind the cloud of controversy that hung over the Kingdom during the summer.
“We were never comfortable, to be honest,” said O’Sullivan.
“We were just so relieved – there’s a lot of tired bodies there, but fellas are so relieved, there was a lot of hard work put in during the year, fellas never gave up.
“It wasn’t one of the easiest years. The supporters got us through in a lot of games when things weren’t going great for us, and our form picked up during the year. The management team always kept us upbeat and we had the confidence that we’d come through in the end.”
The flying forward added that criticism of their performances had been a motivating factor during the tougher qualifier games.
“Every All-Ireland is sweet, to be honest, but the fact that we were written off so often gave us extra motivation.
“We never doubted each other in the dressing room, and the fact we got to play our old rivals... that made it interesting for everybody else, but we’re just delighted to get another All-Ireland medal.”
O’Sullivan said that Cork’s lightning-fast start hadn’t put him and his team-mates off: “We just kept tipping away, we kept to the game plan – we kept playing our own game, and everything worked out” and confessed his second-half point had been a secondary option (“I was going for goal”).
The wing-forward doesn’t represent one of the big guns in Kerry club football, but he responded warmly when asked about his plans to bring Sam Maguire back to his friends and clubmates in Glenbeigh/Glencar.
“It’s a massive honour for me to represent the club and play for Kerry, and for Aidan O’Shea, who’s involved as well this year.
“It’ll be special going back there with the club tomorrow night, a night I’ll never forget. I’m very proud to have the opportunity, and I thank Mid-Kerry for that. Without them I wouldn’t be here today.”
More dreams tomorrow. More reality, too.
