Cork City's Mark O'Sullivan demonstrated just why he is one of the League of Ireland's finest strikers with a brace at Turner's Cross in a 4-0 win against Bohemians last night, a dominant performance. He may not be the most glamorous of players, but for Cork City fans, he is their local hero.
D. Ray Morton, 1st August 2015.
Like last season, Mark O'Sullivan has forced his way into first-team football to the delight of the Cork City faithful
He may be in his thirties, has played amateur football for most of his career and is nothing like a fashionable "false 9" but in Mark O'Sullivan, Cork City have themselves a folk hero. City lie second in the SSE Airtricity League and are six points adrift of defending champions Dundalk and if they are to close the gap and provide a true title challenge, Mark might be their man. Direct, strong in the air and incredibly brave, since O'Sullivan forced his way back into City's starting XI, their form has improved considerably.
They hit a low point some weeks back after being eliminated from the Europa League by KR Reykjavik. After the final whistle went in a disappointing 1-1 first leg draw, O'Sullivan, having come off the bench, got stuck in winger Billy Dennehy who had been particularly wasteful on the night. The tension was evident and such matters should not spill out in public but the passion was definitely there. Dennehy has since been dropped, has looked for a move away and may end up sitting on the bench for the rest of the season. City played their best game of their campaign last night with new right-winger Steven Beattie impressing in Dennehy's stead.
But this game was all about O'Sullivan, the fan favourite. A roofer by trade who was playing for local club Avondale two years ago, manager John Caulfield took a chance on him and when given a run of games, he has consistently delivered. He opened the scoring after only two minutes with a beautifully improvised close-range finish thanks to good work from Beattie out wide. He extended the lead before half-time with a placed indirect free-kick that flew through the shoddy Bohs defensive wall. On top of this, he hit the woodwork twice and was unlucky not to come away with a hat-trick.
There is a tendency in Irish football to look at the elite level of the game and to try and copy it. O'Sullivan is quite the opposite of this. He is very much the traditional, old-fashioned centre forward. A player that kind of does everything. He is neither a target man or a poacher. A grafter, a battler and a goal threat. More Alan Shearer than Alan Patrick and that is what City fans like about him. At the beginning of the season, without Marky (as he is affectionately known), it was too intricate and it did not work. Now they look dangerous again and could feasibly catch Dundalk with twelve games to go. O'Sullivan should be at the heart of that title assault.
