BAD DAYS ARE MURPH IT NOW
JOHN MURPHY is enjoying his time in the spotlight after all those years in the wilderness.
He made his Championship debut a decade ago having been around the Carlow story since 2005 when he was introduced to the panel as a 19-year-old by Liam Hayes.
He has played under six managers at intercounty level and, until last year, it was almost exclusively one-way traffic down a lonely road of under-achievement and soul-searching.
And, after every cut-short summer, there were the inevitable questions he had to ask himself about whether it was worth coming back.
“I’d like to say there wasn’t,” smiled Murphy, now Carlow’s captain. “But you would, especially when you’ve dark days and you’ve been hammered.
“It’s hard work to motivate yourself but then come Novemberdecember time you just kind of fall back into it.
“You miss it, everyone starts talking about football again and you just say, ‘Yeah, sure I’ll give it another go’.”
He’s glad he stuck it out. Two Sundays ago, Carlow beat Kildare in Leinster for the first time in 65 years.
That win put them into the provincial semifinal against
Laois for the first time since 2011.
“That year we got a bye in the first round and didn’t have great form coming into it,” Murphy (below) recalled.
“This time we have great form coming into it after beating Louth and then Kildare. We’re a lot more confident. There’s a lot more belief in us.”
It took some time to process the deserved win over the Lilywhites but confidence has been flowing through the veins of the Carlow men since gaining promotion from Division Four.
“I went into work on the Monday after Kildare and I can’t say it was the most productive day in the world,” Murphy smiled.
“You end up reading papers and going through the game again in your head. I was absolutely thrilled to bits.”
Next up is a local skirmish for a place in the Leinster final and, for Murphy, that comes with an added twist - his wife Ciara is from Laois.
“it’s great craic now,” he smiled. “I think I have her turned at this stage but we’ll see on
Sunday! All her family are from Laois but they all went to school in Carlow, they all go out in Carlow, so there is a mass ive crossover. “I would know a few of the Laois lads so it all adds to it. It’s all about the rivalry.”