Leadership will
Expert analysis from All-Ireland winner Sean O’Sullivan
ONE of my best Munster final memories as a player came in the 2007 decider against Cork.
In a sun drenched Fitzgerald Stadium the game was still in the balance coming down the stretch. I had been introduced as a sub with about fifteen minutes to go and remember finding it really difficult to get to the pace of the game due to heat and the pure raw intensity levels that this battle was being played at.
Remember this was back when Kerry and Cork were contesting Munster and All Ireland semi-finals almost every year and we knew each other inside out. As I ran onto the pitch that afternoon I was met with a nice thump by a certain Noel O’Leary.
He had some nice things to say in my ear about how I wasn’t good enough to start etc. Cork had a bit of momentum at the time, but I never felt like we were going to lose. Not to Cork. Not in Killarney.
Why? Because all through my time playing Cork I felt that we had better players and without a doubt we had more leaders within our team and panel than they had.
Take that game in ‘07 for instance. Going into the final five minutes or so it was level. It was there for Cork to go and turn us over. Beat the reigning All Ireland champions in our own back yard.
Yet they couldn’t see it out. Kieran Donaghy landed a peach of a point practically from the terrace sideline of the ground to put us one clear. Moments later, as Cork attacked, Aidan O’Mahony and Tommy Griffin doubled up to dispossess the ball and drive forward.
Tommy drew Noel O’Leary and slipped a hand pass to me on the run. People often ask what was the best score I ever got for Kerry and I always say that the point I kicked that day will live long in my memory.
It wasn’t just the score or the fact that it had put the game out of Cork’s reach, but it was the reaction of the crowd, the roar, the fist clinching of my team mates as they saw it sail between the posts. It is up there as one of the special moments in my career. Needless to say as I ran back to my position I asked Noel what he thought of it!