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Comeback kid O'Sullivan deserved his Munster final goal - Patrick Horgan

The Glen Rovers man was thrilled to be re-united on the field with Paudie O’Sullivan after his injury woes.

CORK’S PATRICK HORGAN was delighted to see his team-mate Paudie O’Sullivan make a decisive impact in the Munster hurling final earlier this summer, after a lost year where he was plagued with injury.

O’Sullivan suffered a horrific leg break during a club game ahead of last year’s championship and underwent two separate surgeries in April and November before he hit a further set-back in January when his leg became infected.

Eventually the Cloyne man made a scoring return off the bench against Waterford in the Munster semi-final and bagged 1-1 in a crucial display against Limerick in the provincial decider last month.

“If there was any deserved it, it was Paudie, after being off for over a year, setback after setback,” said Horgan.

“No-one knows, outside out team, how much he’s after putting into it. I was just delighted for him that he could come on and get a goal, he trained twice a day for the last year and there was no end to the road. He really deserved that.

“Everyone’s delighted for him really, he’s back with the flicks and tricks in training. From here on, we just have to focus on Tipperary and we can deal with all the rest of it later.”

Paudie OÕSullivan celebrates scoring his sides second goal with Patrick Horgan O'Sullivan celebrates alongside Horgan during that Munster final victory over Limerick James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Horgan and O’Sullivan soldiered together at minor and U21 for Cork, but Horgan stressed the importance of finally delivering a title at senior level. Cork defeated Limerick by 2-24 to 0-24, claiming their first Munster hurling title since 2006.

“It’s huge. We were after being in a lot of finals but we just couldn’t get over the line. We played well in a lot of games, but winning gives us that bit of confidence that we can win.”

Having been beaten in a Munster final and All-Ireland final replay last year and League finals in 2012 and 2010, Horgan felt that Cork “had to do something to get a cup, get a bit of silverware.”

“If you look back, we played two league finals, one against Galway and one against Kilkenny, and both teams were just really good,” he said.

“We got beaten in a Munster final after extra time, we were beaten in an All-Ireland after a replay. It’s not that we were playing badly, we were just coming up against good teams on the day.

“In the Munster final, I think we showed how good we were when things opened up in the second half.”

Alan Cadogan celebrates scoring a goal Cork’s Alan Cadogan celebrates scoring a goal for Cork U21s James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

He believes Cork have a stronger deck than last year, benefiting from Aidan Walsh and Damien Cahalane joining their ranks and also from the unearthing of flying young corner forward Alan Cadogan.

“We started off more or less as a new panel last year and fellas are getting fitter and stronger. The footballers coming along too made us a strong-looking team.

“[Cadogan] is a real threat, we’ve really good forwards now and unbelievable backs, so if you can get one or two players coming on like that every year, you’ll have a solid team.”

Cadogan grabbed his chance when it presented itself in the starting 15 and hasn’t looked back, scoring 0-11 points en route to the All-Ireland semi-final.

“It’s about being able to take it on, not being nervous about playing. Cadogan’s a prime example of that, he just came in and didn’t care about anything. He’s playing his own game, he’s well able to, and that’s the main thing really. Don’t be fazed by anything.”

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