O’Sullivan: A chance ’Town must grasp

Before last year, Bishopstown had never beaten Nemo Rangers in the county SFC.

When a 2012 first-round tie ended level after extra time, it looked as if a great chance had passed them by, but second time out they completed the job. Denis Crowley scored a hat-trick of goals in another extra-time classic, the Town prevailing by 4-18 to 3-20.

Tomorrow, the sides come face-to-face again at the semi-final stage in Páirc Uí Chaoimh (throw-in 4.45pm). While ’Town star Jamie O’Sullivan is not placing too much store on the historical importance of last year, he feels it has provided belief for the immediate future.

“They were two very entertaining games in 2012,” he said, “but from the team’s point of view, it probably didn’t matter as much to us as it would have to older club members.”

Despite the boost of a win over Nemo, last year ended disappointingly for Bishopstown. Just a week after the club’s hurlers lost to Sarsfields in the county final, Carbery Rangers eliminated them from the football quarter-finals. And O’Sullivan is keen to help the club make more of an impact in the latter stages this time.

“It’s definitely something that we want to prove to ourselves,” he agreed.

“It’s a long time since I’ve won anything with the club and then it would have been nearly all hurling anyway. You think that when you get older you’ll be winning things every year but it doesn’t always work out like that. Time passes quickly and you don’t know what way things will be the next year, you have to make the most of your chances when they come.”

Earlier this year, it looked as if Bishopstown would find things tough, as they opened their campaign with a 0-9 to 0-8 defeat to Ilen Rovers.

“Looking back at it, things weren’t going well, for whatever reason,” O’Sullivan said.

“We weren’t doing things a whole pile different from last year but things just weren’t clicking and that makes you frustrated. There weren’t any problems with our intensity because we knew we could get stuck in a relegation battle fairly quickly, but maybe we were a bit behind in our preparations and got caught.

“After the break for Cork, we came back and were more focused, we were enjoying things more.”

A tough second-round tie against Dohenys, where extra time was required, was the catalyst for the turnaround. Though absent that evening through injury, O’Sullivan is well aware of how important the game was, given how the team have blossomed since.

“That match definitely stood to us,” he said.

“We’ve played them a few times and it’s always very physically intense so we knew that it’d be an absolute battle. We were missing a few players that night, myself included, so to get through after extra time was huge.

“We’ve picked things up since then, we’ve looked at just putting up a performance against CIT and Carbery Rangers and that has seen us through.”

O’Sullivan has been key in that resurgence. Though known to wider audiences as a corner-back when lining out for Cork, he was been centre-back of late for his club, having also played as a roving wing-forward. Being freer out the field provides a welcome change for him.

“When I was younger, I played all over the place but as I’ve got older I’ve moved back a bit. When you’re playing in the full-back line, whether it’s at club or county level, it’s always going to be very intense. To get out the pitch again is a good break.”