THE HARRY FACTOR!
Rathnew boss says his men dug deep when required
RATHNEW manager Harry Murphy was a relieved individual after the final whistle of the Renault Senior football championship final against Blessington.
The Village legend and former Wicklow boss is in his first year back at the club and after a tough campaign Murphy and his band of warriors have delivered the Miley Cup to Rathnew once again.
Away from the dug out and dressing room, Harry Murphy is a soft spoken gentleman but his easy demeanour belies a steely detemination, a lifetime of experience and a shrewd tactical awareness that delivered glory for Rathnew and Division 4 success for Wicklow.
Murphy says that a quality showing in the opening half and footballers who are more than capable of winning dirty ball and rising to any challenge when the pressure comes on are the reasons for their victory over Blessington last Sunday.
“We played really well in the first half. We did a few silly things, too. We probably could have been a bit further ahead but you’d have to be happy playing against a slight breeze, it wasn’t much of a breeze and we went in leading by eight points, so, yeah, more than happy,” he said when asked for his thoughts on the game.
“We knew Blessington were going to come. at some stage and put up a bit of a show and they really did put up a show. In fairness to them, I really give credit to them, because other teams after being eight points down could have put the heads further into the ground. Some of their players stood really tall. I thought Paul McLoughlin had an excellent second half, Gavin Murray came in and he caused a few problems for Staff (James Stafford) but, at the end of the day, when the match was there to be won, Staff won a few savage balls, balls that he had no right to win. Theo Smith won a few heavy balls. The man himself (Leighton Glynn) won a few heavy balls. Nicky won a few. And Paul Merrigan I thought was excellent.
“To win a championship, you have to have those lads in a team. Any man can win the handy ball. It’s when things are going against you and there’s a dirty auld ball to be won and those conditions, in fairness I thought the field, I thought, held up well, but it was winter football, and we said it to them at half-time, winter football, when you’ve been there before, the experience of the lads came through from having played and winning championships in winter football and the experience showed in the end and we won out by five points. It didn’t flatter us but with 10 minutes to go I would have taken the two points.
“In fairness to them (Blessington), and I’ve said this to them in the dressing room, nobody can call those chaps anything anymore. They put a serious shift in and fair play to them.
Murphy says the season has been a strange one due to the decision taken to have no games for a month earlier in the year. He says that decision complicated things fro his men.
“It was a strange season. We were training fierce hard early on in the year and then the powers that be decided to take a month out of the season so then we had stop. And then we got caught by Pat’s because we probably hadn’t got back up to the level we should have been at. And then we nearly got caught here against Annacurra but since the second game against Annacurra I thought the lads were excellent.
“At times when the games had to be won, as I said, every footballer can play football when it’s handy, you know, but today was a game that had to be won and the lads done what they’ve been doing for years, thank God, we were very lucky to have so many in the team, leaders, born leaders, and we’re delighted for them.
Harry Murphy had plenty of praise for the Rathnew supporters who turned up in large numbers in Joule Park, Aughrim.
“Great support. Viv (Vivienne O’Neill) is great and all the little children up there (in the stand). You wouldn’t have slept on in Rathnew for too long this morning. All the little children were out with the horns from early. It’ll be the same now when we go home, there’ll be savage celebrations when we get home, and it’s that that drives the lads on, drives the lads into training next January or February, it’ll be scenes like this that’ll drive them on.
“We’ve to go up to Newtown Blues in two weeks’ time. Hopefully we can bring the support up there and have a good day out and progress in Leinster,” he added.