Rebels keep faith with 'The Rock'

Cork manager Gerald McCarthy has given under-fire full-back Diarmuid O'Sullivan a vote of confidence by naming him in his team for Sunday's GAA Hurling All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny (throw-in 4pm).

O'Sullivan will don his familiar number 3 jersey for the Croke Park clash, with the Rebels fielding an unchanged side.

The Cloyne clubman's starting place looked under threat after poor recent performances against Galway and Clare, when he was substituted and team captain John Gardiner was moved to full-back.

McCarthy's decision to keep faith with the same 15 players that started the 2-19 to 2-17 quarter-final win over Clare means Timmy McCarthy, Kieran 'Fraggy' Murphy and Neil Ronan have to be content with places on the bench once again.

The trio made a big impact when they came on during the second half of the Clare game, scoring 2-02 between them.

McCarthy has kept Niall McCarthy at centre-forward and Under-21 stars Patrick Horgan, Pa Cronin and Cathal Naughton have also retained their places in the Rebels' attack.

CORK (SHC v Kilkenny) - D Og Cusack; S O'Neill, D O'Sullivan, B Murphy; J Gardiner (capt), R Curran, S Og O hAilpin; T Kenny, J O'Connor; B O'Connor, N McCarthy, P Cronin; C Naughton, J Deane, P Horgan.