Diarmuid O'Sullivan confirmed as part of new Sarsfields management team

Sat, 12 Nov, 2022 - 12:52

Denis Hurley

Three-time All-Ireland hurling winner Diarmuid O’Sullivan is a notable inclusion in the management team of new Sarsfields boss Johnny Crowley.

Crowley, who led the Riverstown club to the 2010 county SHC, was recently re-appointed for the coming campaign. He has now confirmed his selectors, with Cloyne native O’Sullivan joining former Sars players Joe Barry, Darren Kenneally and Eoin Quigley.

O’Sullivan was at full-back on the Cork sides that won the All-Ireland in 1999, 2004 and 2005, winning All-Star awards in each of those years as well as 2000. He helped Cloyne to the 1997 county IHC, the same year as he was part of the senior-winning Imokilly side.

Since retiring from playing, he has twice served as a Cork senior selector under Kieran Kingston’s management, 2016-17 and again from 2020-22. In between, he led Ballygiblin to the Avondhu JAHC in 2018.

A candidate for the Cork U20 manager’s job earlier this year, it is believed that O’Sullivan had Crowley as part of his potential management team but Ben O’Connor was the choice of Cork GAA chiefs to take charge of the team.

Joe Barry was part of the Sars team that ended a 51-year wait for county glory in 2008 and he also started the 2010 and 2012 finals, alongside Kenneally in defence. Former Wexford hurler and League of Ireland footballer Quigley transferred to the club in 2011 and he won medals in 2012 and 2014.

Under previous manager Barry Myers, Sars reached the semi-finals of the 2021 Co-op SuperStores Cork Premier SHC and they were unbeaten during the round-robin stage of this year’s RedFM Hurling League Division 1. However, they lost the opening round of the championship to Blackrock, a game which doubled up as the league semi-final, and though they responded with a win over Charleville, defeat in their last group match to St Finbarr’s meant they failed to progress to the group stages.

Earlier this week, Blackrock manager Louis Mulqueen announced that he would be stepping down, while Glen Rovers are also on the lookout for a new manager following the departure of Mark Kennefick.