Cork v Offaly U20: Captain Micheál Mullins keen to help Rebels boot on
Cork's Micheál Mullins gets his pass away despite the attentions of Limerick's John Kirby. Picture: Stephen Marken/Sportsfile
Cork U20 hurling captain Micheál Mullins has quite the collection of football boots.
As he revealed when profiled in the programme for the Munster championship game, the Whitechurch club man is already up around the half-century mark and it’s a tally that will only rise.
“I think my Mam and Dad would be cursing me, nearly every week a new pair of boots comes into the door!” he laughs.
“When I was younger and had summer jobs and things like that, I’d always save up. I always liked to have nice boots and I’d look after them as well.
“I just wear adidas boots, every pair in my collection is adidas. I just find that they’re the most comfortable. I like the classics and stuff like that.”
Mullins, son of former Cork hurler Mickey, who won two county SHC medals with Na Piarsaigh, is hoping to develop a collection of medals, too. In 2021, he was part of Pat Ryan’s panel that won the All-Ireland U20 title and on Sunday he will captain the side against Offaly in the final in Thurles (3pm).
Along with his fellow survivors from two years ago – Ben Cunningham, Eoin Downey and Brian Keating – Mullins has been impressing the need to take the opportunity to help Cork to what would be a third All-Ireland at the grade in four years.
“Coming into that year, we were new and fresh, just out of minor. It was a great privilege to be on the panel that year and to get game-time, obviously winning Munster and All-Ireland medals at your first year U20 is exceptional, it came from great management.
“Every fella that’s there knows what it takes, Munster and All-Ireland finals don’t come around easily. We’re just trying to make sure that guys know that, that you have to take it when it comes.”
Mullins, an apprentice electrician with Kevin Barry Electrical, scored the key goal in the Munster final win over Clare. In that game, Cork had to battle back in the second half to earn their victory, the latest example of the character within the side.
“Since the start of the year, we’ve faced challenges right throughout the games,” Mullins says, “whether we didn’t start well or didn’t finish well or other teams got a run on us.
I think every fella can back each other and trust each other going into the All-Ireland final.
“Every fella’s happy and when you can go out on to a pitch and trust the fellas that you’re playing with – friends that you’re playing with – it’s always good.
“Every fella’s happy, we’ve shown our character and we can’t complain. We’re after having a tough few games in the Munster championship and now this is the All-Ireland final and we’re playing Offaly. We know what they’re going to be like and they’re going to bring a savage crowd.
“The atmosphere will be good and Cork people love Thurles, we’re happy that it’s up there as well. We’re just going to concentrate on ourselves and what we want to do on the day and that’s what we’re going to do, really.
“We’re not going to be focused on other people or their support or anything like that, we’re just going to keep our heads down and do what we’ve been doing for the whole year.”
It’s an attitude that has brought him this far and, to that end, he is very grateful to Whitechurch for helping to forge him.
“My club is very proud of me for what I’ve done,” he says.
“You could see the last day, there was great support from my club – I think nearly every fella on the team said it to me after!
“They’re proud and they’d be driving me on. They’ll be behind me and all the team for the final as well.”
“A lot of people said it to me before about playing with a junior club and things like that, but it’s who I went to school with, who I’ve grown up with and played every other sport with.
“I just hope that that inspires younger lads from the club and other clubs, that you can do it. It’s good for a junior club and the Seandún division to have someone on a Cork panel.”
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