O’Flynn will be City’s driving force in League
O’Flynn, who is 20, returned this summer after three years with Peterborough United and he looks set to develop into one of the main forces in the National League.
There can be little doubt but that he will go back to England if he maintains his rate of success with Cork.
He scored on his debut in a 3-0 success over Shelbourne, claimed two against UCD, three in the Cup success over Dundrum and two more against Derry City. The only set-back to date for him and for Cork was that 1-0 defeat by Drogheda United in the League.
Little wonder he was bubbling with enthusiasm when yesterday he said: “It’s been going really well and I’m enjoying every minute. We had a great start against Shelbourne and it just went on from there. It’s nice because at the start of the summer I just did not know what I was going to do.”
His confusion at the end of last season stemmed from the disappointment of learning that Peterborough were virtually insolvent and would have to unload some of their staff. They released those players who were out of contract and as bad luck would have it, O’Flynn’s contract had just expired.
“I did not know much about the National League” he said “because I didn’t follow it while I was in England. But then I read of St. Pats being deducted nine points and the controversy that grew up around that.
“While I was following that story I read that Shelbourne were going all-professional and that got me interested. Then I read that Cork intended to build up their staff of professionals as well and things just grew from there.”
O’Flynn was born in Cobh and during his primary schooldays he played hurling and football with Cobh.
His father, Michael, was a hurler and footballer with Cobh and an uncle, also Michael, played football with Cobh Ramblers. A cousin, Peter Piggott, played full-back with Ramblers in the 1980s.
“One of the managers of Springfield invited me to play soccer with Springfield U14s and I quickly got interested” he said, “I always played at centre-forward because I loved scoring goals.
“I always wanted to be a pro and I went across on trials to Leeds, QPR and Derby and I was so used to going back and forth that when Peterborough offered me a trial I did not hesitate. I was delighted when they offered me a three-year contract.”
The English League’s loss is Cork City’s gain for O’Flynn’s return coincided with the return also of another centre-forward, George O’Callaghan from Port Vale.
O’Callaghan, from Cork, was also released because of financial constraints following the collapse of the television deal affecting the English League and they immediately struck a happy partnership with City.
Said O’Flynn: “We complement each other well. I like to play on the shoulder of the last defender and get in behind the defence while George likes to drop off and play ball. He enjoys linking up with the midfield and doing his tricks and he has set up many of my goals. I enjoy playing with him.”
So what went wrong at Drogheda ? “It was one of those days” he said, “Maybe we were a bit over-confident. We didn’t travel until the day of the match and we arrived just an hour before kick-off. But we were on top for the first fifteen minutes and we hit the post. Then they got a penalty and they had a good spell. It was a bit of a learning curve for us.”
Cork’s exciting football at Turner’s Cross has raised their fans’ hopes of a good season but it remains to be seen whether they can produce the same level of performance away from home. Their Cup match against Monaghan United will provide evidence of what can be expected.
“I’m really looking forward to it” said O’Flynn, “we’ve shown we can play good football and while you always expect a cup match to be hectic we must show what we are made of in Monaghan. Just now I’m delighted the way the season is unfolding.”
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