O’Sullivan mixes finals and family in hectic week

Hectic times for Cork camogie star Eimear O’Sullivan but she wouldn’t change it for the world.

Tomorrow, she jokingly reckons she’ll have to make an appearance at her brother Declan’s wedding while there’s also the small matter of an All-Ireland senior camogie final in Croke Park on Sunday against three-in-a-row-chasing Wexford. And in three weeks’ time, she’ll pitch up in Páirc Uí Chaoimh to support her club, Ballinhassig, as they tackle neighbours Bandon in the Premier IHC final.

“It’s getting in the way but it won’t affect us,” the 24-year-old chirps on her elder sibling’s wedding. “I’ll be in bed early anyway and we’ll enjoy the following week hopefully. We thought originally the county hurling final was going to be on the same day as the camogie and it would’ve caused a bit of tension over where my dad would go but it’s all worked out okay. It’s a good complaint to be in so many finals!”

This will be O’Sullivan’s third All-Ireland final appearance. But champions Wexford, she admits, are the “ultimate test”.

“It’s great to be back in an All-Ireland after three years being out of there. We’ve done well this year to get up to the final again and it’ll be the ultimate test against Wexford.

“It’s kind of avenging 2007 when we were going for three in a row. They stopped us so hopefully on Sunday we can avenge that defeat.”

Despite facing a team of Wexford’s calibre, O’Sullivan believes it’s about focusing on themselves and not worrying about the opposition. “We haven’t watched them, we’ve only been worried by our own game. When it comes to a final, anything can happen, I don’t imagine there being much between us. In the league and in the championship, they were very different games so I expect Sunday to be no different.

“Every game we’ve played this year we’ve improved and intensity-wise we brought a new level to each game so next Sunday again will be a big test of us to see can we bring it on again.”

Part of the reason for their ascent back to the top this year, she acknowledges, has been the freshening up of the backroom team.

“This year, Paudie Murray, Aidan Crowley, Brian Barry and Ellen Clifford, all came on board and brought a new freshness. Things maybe had gone a bit stale the last few years. When you’re not winning, you get annoyed but we started back training the first week of January which was different to every other year. Everything was match-specific and we’ve probably never been in better shape. It’s about bringing that to Sunday’s game.”