Murphy and Breen let win sink in
AFTER rediscovering some promising form in early 2018 it appeared that fate was going to deal Ronan Murphy a cruel hand later in the year as an injury suffered playing for Mid Kerry in the County Championship was followed by a bout of glandular fever, but the Beaufort powerhouse recovered and returned in time for the All-Ireland Club semi-final win.
Needless to say that Murphy wore a massive smile as he reflected on what he and the club had just achieved.
“Words can’t describe how well that went off for us today, we kept our control and focus and never got complacent. We knew Easkey would have possession because they play a defensive game, but we knew that if we were patient we would start dominating and getting the job done,” the midfielder said.
The decision to start Danny Healy was an interesting one but Murphy said the confidence was there in his ability to make an impression.
“Danny was brilliant in his first major start of the campaign, great sign of someone to come into a final like that and play so well. We saw Easkey were kicking a lot of their kickouts to the middle so we knew that the opportunity would come for us to get the possession we wanted,” he said of their approach as well.
Murphy was a Kerry Minor in 2011 and 2012 but it the club’s two more recent graduates from that level, Liam Carey and Mike Breen, who did most of what was good for their club last Saturday as Murphy also had some kind words for the team’s elder statesman and goalkeeper Mike Moriarty.
“Liam and Mike’s experience of being here with the Kerry minors told out there. To be here winning with your club makes it more special though. Mike Moriarty played well too for someone who had a slipped disc in his back last week, but he was never going to miss this for anything in the world today. It could be his last game so it’s a fantastic send-off for him if it is,” he said of their long serving no.1.
Naturally celebrations must be allowed for a period, but Murphy hopes this is far from the last chapter in a club success story.
“This only all started off as a dream this time last year and for it to have happened now is an incredible feeling. Hopefully now the interest can be kept up and that we can move forward more in the coming years, but the most important thing right now is that we celebrate it and enjoy our few weeks off.”
MIKE Breen found it difficult to say whether it felt better to win with the Kerry Minors or his club in Croke Park but did find the experience of winning with his friends and players he played with in the club up along more unique. Tactics-wise he felt Beaufort got everything spot on last Saturday.
“We knew the space out there would suit us and that if we stuck to the kicking game the movement, we wanted from our forwards would mean that it would pay off in the finish. All our forwards were outstanding today, but the ball put into them by our backs was outstanding as well,” he said. Breen also agreed with the assessment that the Dromtariffe and Dundalk experiences ultimately stood to them.
“Those matches certainly brought us on, particularly Dromtariffe I think when we had to fight for the win. The matches in Division One were important as well, even if we didn’t win them, we were competitive in every game and weren’t far away in them,” he said about the campaign in general.
Breen also paid tribute to the team’s management for their efforts. “They started our training early for this last year and I think the fitness we had built up from all that got us through a lot of the campaign ultimately. I still think there is enough in us as well to come back and have a go at the Intermediate in the near future.”