Patsy Freyne is entitled to believe that second judgments are best, as he prepares for Cork City's pivotal Premier Division meeting with St Patrick's Athletic at Richmond Park on Friday evening.

A year ago, Freyne felt that at 32 he had served his time in senior football as a player and was ready to embark on a managerial career with Castleview in the Munster Senior League.

Two months after quitting, however, he yielded to the persuasive arguments of manager Dave Barry and instead of the relative anonymity of intermediate competition, he was bracing himself for the challenge of restoring City to championship fulfilment for the first time since 1993.

Now, as the most absorbing title race of recent years builds to a climax, player and manager are as one in describing that revised judgement as a master move.

"At the time, I thought that I had given all I had to give and with some good young players coming through at the club," says Freyne, "I felt that it was in everybody's interests that I moved on. "But as soon as I reported back for pre-season training with City, I realised that I had been a bit hasty. My appetite for the game was still as good as ever and it helped, of course, that the team played well in the opening months of the season.

"Now, I'm enjoying it as much as I've ever done and if my legs hold out, I think I can go on for a couple of years more."

That's a prospect which has instant appeal for Barry. "In football, they say that if you're good enough, you're young enough and it's hard to think of a better example of that than Patsy Freyne."

It looked as though Freyne's love affair with the club was over when he left to join Cobh Ramblers in 1992. Among other things, it cost him a championship medal as City won the title the following year.

That has remained one of his biggest regrets. "It's the one thing I want most out of football and I sense that I may never have a better chance of getting it," he says. "Nobody in Cork is underestimating the job of going to Richmond Park and getting the result we need to stay on track for the title.

"But we believe we owe St Pats one after twice losing to them in the championship. And if commitment means anything, we're going to succeed."