The €10 million kid comes off the right wing, skips over the Wexford full-back, glides away from the holding midfielder, and steadies himself before curling a left-footed shot into the top corner.
That was eight months ago. In the return fixture last October, Cathal O’Sullivan did it again. This time the midfielder dropped off and the full-back tracked his lateral dribble.
Same result – except he finished into the bottom corner.
On Friday night, Cork City go to Dalymount Park on the cusp of a four-match losing streak. With Republic of Ireland international Seanie Maguire injured and Ruairi Keating done for the season, some O’Sullivan magic is needed before the teenager inevitably departs for greener pastures in the June transfer window.
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The dream scenario for Republic of Ireland fans has Mason Melia and Cathal O’Sullivan carving out club and international careers similar to Robbie Keane and Damien Duff.
The Shelbourne manager is not so sure. Duff recently explained how, as a 16-year-old living at the Blackburn Rovers training facility, he immersed himself in the professional game for two years before his man of the match Premier League debut on the last day of the 1996-97 season.
Keane moved to Wolverhampton at 15.
“Let’s call a spade a spade, [Melia] is playing catch up,” said Duff in February, after St Patrick’s Athletic sold him to Tottenham Hotspur for an initial €1.9 million fee. “He’ll be 18 going over, I had two years on him, so that’s the downside.”
The upside has Melia and O’Sullivan increasing their value with eye-catching displays in the League of Ireland.
If Melia was the first million-pound-plus Irish teenager, O’Sullivan is primed to become the second.
“It will be very difficult to keep hold of Cathal O’Sullivan,” admitted Tim Clancy, the Cork City manager. “I know Melia is doing well at Pat’s, but I think technically Cathal is streets ahead of any other young lad in the country.”
Clancy, with tongue firmly in cheek, added: “If Mason Melia is going for €2 million, Cathal O’Sullivan should be going for about €10 million.”
O’Sullivan might be off to England, Portugal or Germany before the younger Melia, who must wait until January 2026 to turn 18 and slip under Brexit employment law.
“Cathal has been through a lot, having been out for a year with the ACL, when clubs in England and Europe had been looking at him,” said Liam Kearney, the Cork academy head.
“Things went quiet. But he has come back in incredible shape. At the ‘Cross, on a Friday night, every time he touches the ball the crowd are on their feet.
“Look, he knows he is a good technical player, he has that Cork confidence, and you can tell he can play at a higher level.”
If not for the knee injury, O’Sullivan might have followed former team-mates Matthew Moore to Hoffenheim in Germany or Jaden Umeh to Benfica.
“Housing is literally in the training ground at Benfica,” said Kearney. “Jaden has adapted well to the language barrier. Some kids really struggle away, but you could tell from Matthew’s personality that he would not be affected by the move.”
Maybe it is Moore and Umeh who will have careers like Duff and Keane.
Above all else, the smart financial decision for Cork is to sell their prodigy this summer to the highest bidder – with seven-figure add-ons (like St Pat’s negotiated for Melia).
The alternative has O’Sullivan finishing the season and leaving over the winter when his contract expires. In that scenario, Cork might receive around €300,000 in compensation for a talent they’ve nurtured since under-13s.
If, like Melia, he goes to giant club like Spurs, he should expect to be loaned to places like Millwall, Ipswich, MK Dons or Preston North End. That’s the bumpy road Troy Parrott travelled as a Spurs player before realising that his skillset was suited to Dutch football where, at 23, he has scored 19 goals for AZ Alkmaar this season.
Moving to a smaller European market, like France, Portugal or the Netherlands, would enhance O’Sullivan’s chances of playing first-team football next season and allow him to avoid the English Championship’s tortuous 46-game season.
Cork have a history of selling players for pennies. In 2005, Reading reportedly snapped up Shane Long and Kevin Doyle for £90,000. It seemed like good business until Doyle was sold to Wolves for £6.5 million in 2009 and West Brom sold Long to Hull City for £14.9 million in 2014.
That’s what makes the Melia deal groundbreaking: St Pat’s will receive a percentage of the transfer fee when Spurs sell him and, again, when the next club sells him. In the unlikely event he stays in north London for his entire career, St Pat’s will be paid when he hits agreed appearances for club and country.
Back at Dalymount tonight, watch O’Sullivan glide away from the League of Ireland and into the great beyond.
Up Next
Shelbourne, Galway United, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic can all knock Drogheda United off top spot as they are clumped together on 16-18 points while Waterford and Bohemians should ease relegation fears by beating bottom sides Sligo Rovers and Cork City.
The Virgin Media cameras are showing Drogheda versus Shels tonight and Bohs trip to Tallaght on Easter Monday (kick-off 2pm).
