Mickey Ned happy to be seeing red on final journey

Mickey Ned O’Sullivan must surely be the first former Kerry manager to take charge of a team wearing Cork jerseys.

Owing to a clash of colours with Ardee Community School, Baile Bhúirne’s Coláiste Ghobnatán will be donning the Rebels’ shirts for today’s All-Ireland Post-Primary SCFC final in Portlaoise (2pm), “to the satisfaction of 95% of those involved” according to O’Sullivan.

The Kenmare man has been on the staff of the school since its merger with Coláiste Iosagáin, where he previously taught. He rates the current crop as the best he has seen since the amalgamation, proof of a resurgence among schools in Muskerry.

“There has been great co-operation from the clubs involved and the Muskerry board,” he said. “We have been facilitated well, and it’s a great reflection on the underage work in the division that you had De La Salle Macroom in the Corn Uí Mhuirí final, Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig in the senior B All-Ireland and then ourselves. The players have developed thanks to the structures in place.”

With glory in sight, O’Sullivan acknowledges the difficulty in trying to get the team to prepare for a football match rather than a final.

“It can be very difficult,” he said, “there’s so much euphoria and hype around the place after getting to a final for the first time in so long. Obviously, everyone is looking forward to it but you have to alienate yourself from that, focus on the basics and look at the next ball. How you get them to ignore the hype is another question, because if I knew that we’d be in a final every year! It all boils down to the individual, they have to see what works for them, and you can only do that through trial and error.”

Given that element of uncertainty, all he asks is fullness of effort on the day.

“Coaching a school is different to a club or intercounty team, where winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing,” he said.

“Here, my primary function is to educate, and sport is an instrument in that. On a team, you need to have discipline and co-operation and get everyone working in a group, all skills which are transferable to later on in life. If you give it everything, then that’s success. It might sound idealistic, but that’s the reality.”