The new side on the senior side of things, Glenmore have a chance to prove their Championship credentials against five in a row chasing Shamrocks.
The south Kilkenny sides will meet each other in the quarter-finals in two weeks’ time. Eoin Murphy and his stock will be going into the tie as underdogs, after all, Shamrocks have made the final seven times in the last ten years, winning the Tom Walsh Cup six times in total.
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Catching up with Kilkenny goalkeeper and Glenmore outfielder Eoin Murphy, he is under no illusions as to the task awaiting his side;
“We are really looking forward to it. It will be a massive challenge, but we are delighted to be back up against the senior teams. Ballyhale are are the best team in Kilkenny, going for five in a row, they were the best team in the country for those years also. So it will be a massive challenge but we are looking forward to it.”
“We had some ups and downs. Our second game was a bit of an eye-opener, we had an off day, we were not on the ball and Dicksboro put us to the sword. Recently against Bennetsbridge and O’Loughlins, they had opportunities and they took them. We had opportunities and did not take them, that is the difference at senior level. It is a massive learning curve.”
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It has been a busy year so far with Eoin, obviously playing club with Glenmore but from an intercounty perspective also. Eoin stands between the posts for The Cats, and his performances in goal has once again seen him be nominated for the PWC All Stars. Looking back on Brian Codys final campaign in charge of the Cats, Murphy outlined that while winning provincial is nice, under the grand scheme of things, the season was a disappointment;
“It was a tough one. I still have not looked back at the All Ireland yet, I might do sometime over the winter. We set out our stall at the start of the year to win the All-Ireland. The league is a small stepping stone, Leinster is another stepping stone, if you do not win them you still have the opportunity to win an All-Ireland. Ultimately come November and December, nobody gives a hoot who won Munster or Leinster. To be honest it can still be classed as a bit of a waste of the year.”
“We had a massive opportunity. It is extremely hard to get back to the All-Ireland final. It is bittersweet, we did have some good results but if you are not winning the Liam McCarthy it does not make a difference.”
You can listen to Eoin’s full interview, along with a host of people from the Kilkenny Championship on Scoreline this weekend from 2 pm.
