For many companies who get involved in sponsoring teams all over the country, it is just a case of handing over some money for a set of jerseys. However, that is not the case with the Hospital/Herbertstown club in Limerick as sponsor Jerry O'Sullivan is also the manager of their senior and under-21 sides. Jerry spent a number of years in London, where he was involved with GAA clubs over there before returning home. He believes a 'hands on' approach is the best way to help the club. The sponsorship of a club is an important part of their survival due to the escalating costs of running a number of adult and underage teams. Hospital/Herbertstown are fortunate enough to have a man like Jerry O'Sullivan help them financially and with on the field activities. The Limerick club play their football in the senior grade, while their hurlers compete at junior level. It is with the footballers that Jerry has been lending his valuable knowledge of the game. And although the club have not being making any real influence in the senior championship since the 90's, their manager is convinced that they have the talent to make it to the top. "We definitely have the players to do a lot better. The team is a mixture of youth and experience. There are many young players coming through the ranks. Our Under-21 squad has been fairly strong for the past few years and most of them players are on the senior panel now," said Jerry. Having a good underage set up is an important part of a club's structure and Jerry revealed that Hospital/Herbertstown are in the category. He also acknowledges the hard work of those involved looking after the teams at the various grades. "We are fortunate enough to have a great group of people working with the underage teams and they are very well looked after. People like Geraldine O'Donoghue, Pat Curtin, Paddy O'Sullivan, Alison O'Leary, Michael Reale, George and Declan Murphy, David Hartnett, Liam Jones, John Reale, Sean McAuliffe (secretary), Matty Quirke, Pat Quish, Marie Murphy and Doll Reale are just some of the people who have devoted a lot of time to the club in the past few years," added Jerry. Hospital/Herbertstown is situated in the South East of the county. They play in the Southern Division, although could well have played in the Eastern section, such is their proximity. Despite their lack of success, the club still manage to provide players for the various county teams. At the moment, Sean Kiely and Colm Hickey are part of the senior football panel, while Paudie and Damien Reale have worn the green and white of the senior hurlers in recent times. The Limerick Development squad also includes a member of the club as Michael Fitzgerald is on the panel. This year, Hospital/Herbertstown have already secured some silverware when they won the Limerick Under-21 B championship at the expense of Adare. Jerry is confident that the club can use this win as a springboard to go on to greater things. "It was a great achievement for this side to win the Under-21 title; they are a great bunch of lads and worked very hard throughout the year. Hopefully, the majority of these lads can come through to the senior ranks this year, but the future does look good," added Jerry. After defeating the likes of Castletown Ballyagran and South Liberties along the way, Hospital/Herbertstown made it to the Under 21 B final. The final itself was played at a very high standard, as both sides were desperate to win. But, it was Hospital/Herbertstown, who looked the stronger throughout. They took the lead in the second minute when Pa Fitzgerald fired over a point, Moments later, the only goal of the game was scored when Joe Fogarty blasted home after he had a penalty saved. Adare hit back with a couple of points, before Stephen Lyons scored two points, to leave the half time score 1-4 to 0-2. Adare upped the tempo in the second half and the piled forward in the hope of narrowing the gap. The H/H defence held firm though and Maurice O'Connell, Michael Fitzgerald, Brendan O'Sullivan, Sean Reale and John O'Connor worked tirelessly to keep the Adare attack at bay. Hospital/Herbertstown had the opportunity to kill off the game when they were awarded a second penalty when Sean Reale was brought down in the small parallelogram, but the effort was once again saved. Adare took great heart from this and managed to close the gap to a solitary point. The title looked as if it was heading to Adare, but up popped Stephen Lyons in the last minute to fire over a point and leave the final score 1-5 to 0-6. A word of mention for regular Hospital/Herbertstown goalkeeper Conor Wallace, who missed the final through injury, although his replacement David Lyons was a more than able deputy. After the match, Hospital/Herbertstown secretary Sean McAuliffe in his capacity as County Board delegate presented the cup to his fellow clubman and captain Ronan Morrissey. Away from the trials and tribulations of the GAA field, Jerry earns his living from running the successful Rockspring Developments. A building form that has been established for the past ten years and has become one of the best-known construction firms in the South. Rockspring Developments are currently working on two major projects at the moment. Forty houses are been constructed on Ballyneety Golf Course, while 90 are being built in Mitchelstown, Cork. This all leads to a very hectic schedule for Jerry as many evenings see him go straight from work to the training field. "Yeah, it can take up a lot of time alright. But it is the same for the most of the players. Some nights I don't be home until late, but I enjoy it and that's the main thing. I suppose if I didn't I wouldn't be doing it. Nowadays, it takes a lot of commitment from everyone involved and sometimes it's hard to keep going, but we do." Jerry's involvement in the club is helped by the fact that he has three sons playing. Diarmuid is a member of the senior squad, while Brendan was part of the victorious Under-21 panel and Darragh has been playing a starring role for the club's under-14 side. So the O'Sullivan name will be associated with Hospital/Herbertstown for a number of years to come, both on and off the field. For the record the victorious Under 21 combination was: David Lyons, Joe Fogarty, John O'Connor, Liam Hartnett, Sean Deegan, Michael Fitzgerald, Brendan O'Sullivan, Donal Reale, Pa Fitzgerald, Stephen Lyons, Sean Reale, Ronan Morrissey, John Barry. Tweet

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