Interview
Daniel Carey
danielcarey@mayonews.ie
HERE’S a great story told about Christy Ring, who was a Cork selector in 1976 when the Rebel County won the All-Ireland hurling title. The adoring crowd demanded that the legendary figure address them at the homecoming, but the notoriously shy Ring wasn’t convinced. “What will I say to them?” he asked. “Tell them we’ll win four-in-a-row,” came the reply. “I will not,” said Ring. “I won’t tell them anything about our plans.”
Thankfully, Mayo’s preparations ahead of the competition to which Ring gave his name are not quite such a state secret. Martin Brennan’s side have had a number of challenge matches against Galway senior clubs, and expect more tough matches when the serious business kicks off next Saturday. Kerry are first on the menu, followed by Meath (home), Down (away) and Westmeath (at home again). Nobody said it was going to be easy.
“You couldn’t have picked a tougher draw for Mayo, unfortunately,” wing forward Niall Murphy told The Mayo News. “But if you want to progress, you want to be playing against the likes of Westmeath and Down. It’s a challenging group, but I think the players and the team are capable of performing, and we’re looking forward to it.”
Murphy will be making his championship debut for Mayo, the native county of his proud father, and the family have a house in Ballyhaunis. He hurls with Kilmacud Crokes, where he now has some green and red company in the form of Westport’s Paul Broderick. He played for Dublin at minor, U-21 and intermediate level and ‘flirted’ with the senior panel for a couple of years. He may have arrived as something of an unknown quantity, but five points in his opening match against Roscommon in January meant everyone in Mayo’s small hurling community soon knew his name.
Murphy’s work with Bank of Ireland Global Markets in Dublin ‘makes it difficult’ for him to link up with the squad outside of match days. However, he and Broderick continue to train with Crokes and go to the gym. However, he is full of praise for the ‘very welcoming’ reception he received from team mates.
Adrian Hession pointed out in these pages this week that by the time the ball is thrown in next Saturday, 11 weeks will have passed since Mayo’s last competitive fixture. A few rounds of the club hurling championship have been played in the meantime but Murphy admits that the long delay is ‘not ideal’. Whether the break has had any affect, only time will tell.
When the league resumes next year, Mayo will operate out of Division 3, having been relegated as a result of Kerry’s surprise win over Kildare on the final day. Murphy points to their own defeat in Newbridge as a key moment in that disappointing outcome.
“We fully deserved to beat Kildare,” he explains. “We were a point up going into injury time and against the run of play, they scored a goal. It was gut-wrenching at the time. Even though it was the start of the league, we felt ‘we could live to regret this’, and unfortunately we did. Against London, conditions were wicked and the final score was six points all. Unfortunately, other teams played London on better days and put up bigger scores. I guess the luck just wasn’t with us in the league. But we were really, really close. Kildare got into the league semi-finals and only lost to Wicklow by a point; they should have beaten Wicklow off the park. Relegation was a big disappointment. Mayo hurling has come on an awful lot, and it’s unfortunate that we’re back down in Division 3. It’s vital that next year we bounce straight back up again.”
There is, however, no relegation from the Christy Ring Cup this year, and Mayo’s win over Kerry means they will travel in confident mood at the weekend. Thomas Duffy made some great saves during that league match, Rory Campion nabbed a goal, and Keith Higgins was on song from frees. Murphy believes that victory will ‘stand for nothing’ the next day but aspects of Mayo’s performance means there are reasons to be cheerful.
“I think a lot of character came through that day in the Mayo team,” he explains. “We were playing against the wind, we conceded a goal and we went 1-2 to 0-0 down early on. I’m sure in the past Mayo heads would have dropped. But we came out in the second half and really blew them out of the water. I’ve never seen heart or determination like this Mayo team have shown.”
