All-action Murphy to lead from the back
“I’d happily
take a penalty if I was asked”
ALL-STAR goalkeeper Eoin Murphy believes the inter-county rookies that have played in the Kilkenny full-back line this spring have a big future with the Cats. Huw Lawlor and Tommy Walsh have both impressed in front of Murphy in Kilkenny’s opening two League games, although they will face a stern test this Sunday against the incisive movement of Limerick forwards. But the goalkeeper has the utmost faith in them.
‘The two of them are flying it, even in training,’ says the Glenmore native.
‘They have been playing in the Fitzgibbon Cup, too, which is a massive help in staying sharp at this time of the year. And they are getting exposed to tough, physical games, which is doing them no harm. They are carrying through form and I can’t say a bad word about them.’
For two young defenders, it helps that they have the best goalkeeper in the business behind them. Even when a forward does slip them, they know Murphy, more often than not, will bail them out.
He showcased this flare for the remarkable with a save from Patrick Horgan in the Allianz League opener.
Despite the pair’s youthfulness, Murphy insists that he didn’t seek them out for a few extra words before playing either Cork or Clare.
‘I wouldn’t say anything more than normal, no. You’d iron out a few things that you might have seen in training, but before the game, everyone is trying to focus their own mind.
‘You might have a chat about the other team and their fullforward line. But at the same time, you can’t be overloading them with information because, when it comes to Championship, it’s so frantic that gameplans, generally, might go out the window. You just have to be hurling off your own accord. They’re gaining a valuable experience and it’s great for them to be getting it.’
Murphy may have fostered a reputation as the best keeper in the game — and was recognised as such by the All-Star selectors last November — but he plays outfield in club hurling, which means he is comfortable coming out with the ball. He can even strike frees over the bar, when called upon.
‘Being on the ball and having space in front doesn’t bother me. I am comfortable on the ball, whether it’s coming high or low,’ Murphy points out, although he does admit he hears groans and grumbles from the crowd occasionally when he does leave his goalmouth.
‘Yeah, it’s gas. When you’re coming out with the ball, you can hear murmurs from the crowd and the auld fellas telling you to get back into goal. You get that alright, but when you realise how comfortable you are on the ball, you can deal with any difficult situation.
‘The role of a goalkeeper has changed so much. If teams play with a spare man, they can go with short puck-outs because possession is so vital.
If you have primary possession, it’s very hard for the opposing team to get it back, and you can create overlaps. The older generation might find it hard to buy into the short puck-out but it’s the way the game has evolved,’ he says.
Even if his primary responsibility is to keep a clean sheet, Murphy doesn’t mind taking on the extra burden of long-range frees and even suggests he would be willing to take penalties, although TJ Reid might have something to say about that.
‘Again, maybe the older generation mightn’t be too impressed, but I don’t mind taking them. Certainly 10 years ago, you wouldn’t be thinking that you would be popping frees over. But I take them for my club and Brian said it to me a few years back. If I was asked to come up and take a penalty, I’d be delighted to. I’m not great at sidelines, but I’d throw my hat into that, as well.’
No matter how much he scores, Murphy’s worth will always be measured by how he keeps the ball out of his net. And he has made some of the most extraordinary saves in hurling over the past couple of years, including a string against Limerick in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
Unlike Gaelic football goalies, their hurling counterparts can’t watch clips of Premier League custodians on YouTube. Different skills are needed.
He regularly plays racquetball in Glenmore to sharpen his agility, but he feels that good hurling goalkeeping is simply down to positional sense.
‘You saw James McGarry for years, he probably never had to make an extravagant save but he conceded few goals and always made the stops when he had to. That was because he had positional sense and he would do a lot of work with myself and Darren Brennan on that. We would work on quickness getting off the ground, your reaction time, make sure reflexes are sharp but positional sense is the big thing.’