O'Sullivan ready to lead Kerry from the front Reports

ALL-IRELAND SFC FINAL:THERE'S A history of the Kerry football captaincy being more a curse than a blessing and at the start of the summer it seemed Darran O'Sullivan could do without the added responsibility.

Ever since coming into the senior set-up four years ago, O’Sullivan has been mostly a self-confessed “super sub”, rarely sure of his place on the starting 15. In some ways that suited his style of short, intense bursts of football.

Then he helped Mid Kerry claim the county title last December, and with that was presented with the captaincy. Suddenly there was external pressure on him to make the team. As if there wasn’t enough internal pressure already.

Yet it’s a sign of his maturity and class that O’Sullivan has gradually nailed down one of the corner forward positions after a couple of big performances – and all the while with the minimum of fuss.

“Well obviously I’ve enjoyed starting the last couple of games,” says O’Sullivan, “but I’ve always said it’s more important to be part of a successful Kerry team than it is to start. I’m happy to make an impact in any way I can, as long as Kerry win.

“Even with the captaincy it’s been the same as any other year, wanting to get on the team. I’ve done nothing different this year to be honest. Obviously I’ve had to say a bit more, and maybe look out for the younger lads coming through, as I suppose I’d be regarded now as one of the older fellas this year.”

At 23 he’s hardly one of the older members of the Kerry team, although in ways O’Sullivan is mature beyond his years.

He actually started his football trade with the Tir Chonaill Gaels club in London, where he lived until he was 12, and – God forbid! – could have ended up at Queens Park Rangers, having spent two years with their youth academy. Sense prevailed and once he returned to his roots in Glenbeigh it was pure football all the way.

At the start of this championship, O’Sullivan spoke about the challenges ahead and without hesitation declared Cork as the team to beat. And of course so it has proved.

Playing Cork again in Sunday’s All-Ireland final may be a case of both loving and loathing and yet O’Connor makes a valid point about their baseline motivation; it’s an All-Ireland final, and you want to win no matter who is lining out against you.

“Well I think as a Kerry fan you’d love to see us playing Cork in the final. I think it’s good for both counties. But of course it doesn’t really matter who you’re playing. It’s an All-Ireland final. You’re going to go out with the same attitude to win no matter who else is in it.

“Of course the rivalry is as strong as ever. We’d know each other well. We know the challenge they’ll present and we just hope we can get the big performance. We were lucky enough to get the draw with them here in Killarney back in June, and then they beat us handy enough in Cork. That was disappointing of course, but I think it stood to us in the end, because we knew we weren’t up to scratch.

“In fairness Cork have been astute all year, beat a Tyrone team that we struggled to beat over the years. A very strong Tyrone team. But this is the All-Ireland final. We’ve been there before. We’ll be hoping we have another big performance in us.”

O’Sullivan articulates a view about Sunday’s final that the majority of the Kerry team appear to reflect; sure, Cork beat them well back in June, but Kerry have come on a lot since then – and this is the time of year they like to play their best football.

They haven’t made six All-Ireland finals in succession by accident. “Obviously we were pushed all the way in all three of our qualifier games. I think Diarmuid Murphy saving a penalty against Sligo was a key moment for us. We could very easily have gone out that day. Again I think we learnt an awful lot about ourselves along the way. Those qualifier matches aren’t about performances.

“No one remembers a good performance if you lose. The qualifiers are about getting through and we did that. We were under pressure, and getting a fair bit of stick from a few different angles.

“When things are going badly, things aren’t clicking, obviously players will get frustrated. At the same time we knew we didn’t become a bad team overnight. We just had to keep working, and eventually we’d find form. We found it against Dublin, but to be honest that was such a big game for us. There’s always an extra buzz in Croke Park as well and I think that suits us.

“I suppose the way things were going at one stage we never expected to be in an All-Ireland final. We’re lucky to be here now, so we just have to make the most of it. It wasn’t a great performance against Meath in the semi-final but I don’t know if there’s an ideal way to win an All-Ireland semi-final.

“They were tough conditions, and we showed a bit of character. The surface didn’t help, but sure what can you expect if they dig it up for a concert four or five weeks beforehand. It was never going to be perfect. I think they did the best they could.”

There’s a myriad of reasons why Sunday should develop into a fascinating showdown. The bottom line is Cork still have to prove themselves capable of beating Kerry in Croke Park, whereas Kerry, as the Dublin performance proved, rarely have such problems.

“I still think against Dublin it was a bit of a freak game,” adds O’Sullivan. “Everything went well for us and nothing was happening for Dublin. The Meath game was a little tougher with the conditions but semi-finals are all about getting through it, and I think we showed a bit of heart.

“For Cork though playing us in Croke Park shouldn’t be an issue, They’re a big physical team and have the hunger now for All-Ireland medals.”

Kerry, it goes without saying, never lose that hunger.

Darran O'Sullivan

Club: Glenbeigh/Glencar.

Position: Corner forward.

Age: 23.

Occupation: Bank Official.

Height: 5ft 10in.

Weight: 12st.

Championship debut: versus Tyrone, 2005.

Honours: Two All-Ireland senior; Two Munster senior; Two National League; One Munster minor.