Peter O'Sullivan's passing breaks yet another link to Tipperary's All-Ireland-winning class of 1971
Dashing in style, he had great wrists
Roy Keane - not a name you’d expect to see in this column - makes no secret of his love of hurling. I enjoy the bemused looks he gets in a London studio when he mentions the game and puts the All-Ireland final up there among the greatest sporting spectacles anywhere in the world.
I’m sure he’ll be a keen watcher on Sunday, as his beloved Cork seek to end a famine that’s now 19 years in the making. Pronounce that word famine softly because they don’t like the term down south. To them it’s just a hiatus of sorts as they give others a chance.
Which reminds one of the Tipperary saying that you need to win your All-Irelands while Cork are down. That, I guess, has been the lesson of history. Too often they’ve been our spoilsports in the past, especially in the unforgiving days of knockout championship.
Still 19 years is a long gap. Several of the Cork players on Sunday will have little, if any memory of the 2005 win over Galway. Even 36-year-old veteran, Pat Horgan, was a mere 17-year-old back then.
Anyway, Cork have been coming in recent years. The seeds of their famine were sown in underage failure over a prolonged period: no minor win from 2001 until 2021 and no Under 21/20 from 1998 until 2020. Statistics like those carry consequences.
The worm has been turning, however, in recent years. Their minors broke the losing sequence in 2021 and the Under 20s have won three of the last five championships. Normal service is gradually being restored, so their progress to this year’s All-Ireland final shouldn’t surprise.
It’s not that underage success offers automatic pay-off at senior. It doesn’t. However, ongoing underage failure is sure to carry consequences down the line.
Incidentally, interesting statistics were produced recently by that guru of the trade, Brian McDonnell. It’s a topical issue hereabouts, with concerns about our underage pathway and its failure in recent years to produce hurlers of senior quality.
A study of our county minor players since 1964 shows that just 13 percent of them actually progressed to play senior. It averages at around two players per team. Of course, within that figure there’s unevenness. Some minor teams, such as the Tipperary sides of ‘06/’07, produced a rich harvest while others yielded very little.
Those figures won’t surprise most people familiar with the scene. Actually, with the minor grade now at Under 17 it’s likely that even fewer will progress to senior ranks.
Anyway, back to Cork and the All-Ireland final. While Pat Horgan (36) and Seamie Harnedy (34) are the elder statesmen on the team, the younger players have certainly taken time to develop. On the starting team against Limerick, Eoin Downey (21) was the youngest but players like Shane Barrett, Alan Connolly and Brian Hayes, whom we tend to regard as newbies, are all 23 this year. That’s six years since they played minor.
Clare too have a significant age mix on the team. Tony Kelly will be 31 in December and David McInerney is a year older. Shane O’Donnell turned 30 in June and Peter Duggan will be 31 in September. At 35 John Conlon is the elder lemon.
At the other end of the age spectrum then Adam Hogan – Clare’s Cathal Barrett - is just 21 this year and Mark Rodgers is 23. I guess for most teams it takes that type of blend, with the steadiness of experience being mixed with youthful exuberance.
While it would be foolish to underestimate the importance of the likes of Harnedy and Horgan to Cork, Clare have more key men in the thirty-something bracket, which makes this a very important final for them. You’d expect Cork to be there or thereabouts in future years but the clock isn’t on the side of a significant cohort of this Clare team.
It’s eleven years since David McInerney, John Conlon, Tony Kelly and Shane O’Donnell were key men in the county’s last All-Ireland win back in 2013. They might be wondering if this is their last chance to add to that medal.
A Cork team with momentum is a dangerous animal and the present side certainly has that force behind them after their win over Limerick. They’re on a high and you’d expect them to carry that energy to the final.
I thought Clare looked drained after their Munster final defeat but they’ve rebounded impressively. Limerick had become something of a bogey team so facing Cork instead will help their mindset. They already defeated the Rebels in the Munster round robin, though that will matter little on Sunday.
It’s an intriguing prospect, likely to be decided by slim margins. Cork’s driving pace and the emergence of Shane Barrett, Alan Connolly and Brian Hayes as attacking forces is central to their game plan.
Defensively they’ve tended to concede a lot and that reputation could be an issue on Sunday, with the likes of Shane O’Donnell on the prowl. Patrick Collins saved Cork the last day but they won’t want to depend on their goalie again on Sunday.
Cork are slight favourites, which is an accurate estimation of form so far. However, there are so many imponderables on a big day like an All-Ireland final that it’s fascinating to anticipate events. I’m sure Roy Keane will enjoy the spectacle, especially if the Rebel roar prevails. Can’t wait for it.
Finally, the passing last week of Peter O’Sullivan, Cashel King Cormacs, breaks yet another link to the All-Ireland-winning class of 1971. Victory over Kilkenny that day was the crowning moment for the Cashel goalie, the peak to a career that also brought All-Ireland Under 21 and intermediate successes.
Peter emerged through the grades in the sixties. He missed out on an All-Ireland minor medal in 1961 when beaten by Kilkenny but won intermediate in 1963.
The following year Peter was part of the inaugural Under 21 triumph when Wexford were soundly dispatched at Nowlan Park. Francis Loughnane captained the side. Such emerging prominence was unlikely to be ignored by the county senior selectors and O’Sullivan spent most of the remainder of the sixties as understudy to John O’Donoghue, which meant he collected senior medals in ’64 and ’65.
His big break came in 1970. I was at the Gaelic Grounds that July day when John O’Donoghue was replaced by O’Sullivan in the second half. It’s funny the memories that survive. I can still recall a Cork voice behind us echoing down the years: “I’ll tell you boy, O’Donoghue won’t get back there too handy”. Prophetic words, as the Arravale Rovers man never got back.
It was rough justice on O’Donoghue to have such a fine career end so untidily. For Peter O’Sullivan it was an opportunity grasped with emphasis. Cork won that day by two points but the Cashel man was now first choice ahead of the 1971 glory.
His career as first choice was, however, short-lived. Cork again had the team’s measure in 1972 and then fate intervened in the form of a workplace accident. Working on road markings, he suffered extensive burns to his face and hands, which ended his inter-county career.
At club level he continued playing, enjoying a last hurrah with the King Cormacs in 1980 when they defeated Sean Treacys in the West decider after a replay and extra time.
By any metric Peter’s career was a notable one in the days when goalies enjoyed none of the protection afforded their modern-day counterparts. Dashing in style, he had great wrists. He was part of a dynasty of West Tipperary goalies back then with people like Terry Moloney and Donal O’Brien starting the trend.
May he rest in peace.