Kingdom attacker O’Sullivan calls time

Kerry attacker Sean O’Sullivan has confirmed to Kingdom management he has retired from inter-county action for a second and final time.

The four-time All-Ireland winner returned to the fold at the start of this season in the hope he could re-establish himself in the Kerry attack for the first time since his retirement in 2009.

However, after two NFL starts this campaign, he informed colleagues on Tuesday night he was cashing in his chips for good.

He declined to elaborate.

O’Sullivan scored a first-half point in Saturday’s defeat at home to Armagh but was substituted — some thought unfairly — just before half time in the 2-8 to 0-10 defeat. He struggled in the league opener at Croker but looked to be finding his feet last weekend.

His comeback, at 32, was always something of a gamble — a brave one, according to Kerry coach Jack O’Connor. “He was anxious to have a go at it because there would have been a feeling he went too early after the 2009 All-Ireland win,” O’Connor said yesterday. The Cromane star won All-Ireland medals in 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009 and was especially prominent in the 2006 success.

O’Sullivan had been invited by Kerry minor coach Mickey Ned O’Sullivan to be a selector this season, but passed up the opportunity after deciding to return to the senior county squad at the start of the year.

His retirement reduces O’Connor’s attacking options at a time when he is short the Dr Crokes trio of Colm Cooper, Kieran O’Leary and Daithi Casey, with other like Donaghy struggling for form. Kerry’s next National League tie is away to Down, but they have an attractive challenge pencilled in for Sunday week, when the Ballymacelligott club outside Tralee will host Kieran McGeeney’s Kildare.

The suspended Tomás O Sé is expected to line out for Munster this weekend in the Interprovincial series while another veteran Eoin Brosnan has confirmed his inter county ambitions for 2012 are undimmed by the protracted club season with Dr Crokes.