Adam Murphy on a season to remember with Watergrasshill and Imokilly
Watergrasshill's Adam Murphy wins the sliotar from Carrigaline's Stephen Williamson. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Watergrasshill GAA fans have never known a Christmas like it, with an All-Ireland final trip to Croke Park the hot topic of conversation around the dinner table.
Tynagh/Abbey-Duniry will provide the opposition on Sunday week after the Galway side had eight points to spare over 13-man Rathnure in their AIB intermediate semi-final.
Since their convincing 1-21 to 0-8 victory over Carey Faughs in Navan, Hill folk have been making preparations for what is realistically a once-in-a-lifetime journey to support their club on the greatest stage of all. After a few years when draws were the very familiar outcome in the Cork championship, they've got on a winning roll. They've answered every question since their dramatic comeback against Carrigaline in the opening round of the PIHC in early August.
The plaudits have flown freely in the direction of the team and management and one of the stars Adam Murphy was honoured with a 96FM/C103 GAA Award in recognition of his huge contribution, hosted by joint sponsors Rochestown Park Hotel. He will now return as one of the 12 contenders for the overall accolade at the Gala Annual Banquet which goes ahead on January 31.
"It's been a hectic few weeks, to be honest, but I'm delighted to be here to receive this award. I would never have thought about winning an individual award, it's been fairly non-stop since the county win over Carrigaline, as we had the quick turnaround and were back in action again in the Munster championship.
"It wasn't a good start to that game against Wolfe Tones, but we showed great character to recover after conceding a goal inside the opening few seconds. In fairness, we had to celebrate the county win on the previous weekend, that is the reason you get up in the cold winter Sunday mornings."
Following that provincial semi-final success by 2-20 to 2-13, Watergrasshill then defeated Cashel King Cormacs from Tipperary in the decider, with their performance in the second half of a high-quality encounter being particularly eye-catching in difficult conditions. Murphy finished with 1-12.
"We certainly kept the scoreboard ticking over, but the backs were absolutely outstanding against a very good Cashel side. Overall the team is bonding very well together.
"There is something special happening in the group without doubt. The management deserves a lot of credit for this. They look at our opposition in advance, but overall the main focus is on ourselves.
At the start of the year, the ambition of every team is to win the county championship. If you achieve that, maybe you can leave it there or decide to dig deep and go further. After winning the Munster semi-final, you then get a bit greedy and want to win more. Now we are suddenly to Croke Park for an All Ireland Final. A quiet Christmas, but hopefully a very lively January might follow."
Murphy posted 1-40 across his last four championship matches and was also an integral part of the Imokilly team that landed the Premier Senior Hurling title against Sarsfields.
The Riverstown club have since exceeded expectations, a few miles further up the motorway, Watergrasshill is now gripped in a frenzy of excitement in advance of the intermediate final, which has a 2.30pm throw-in. Team manager Eddie Enright has done a wonderful job keeping a lid on expectations all season and the former Tipperary All-Ireland winner will have his team in the best possible place ahead of the biggest day in the club's history.
Watergrasshill will be hoping to bring the cup back to Cork for the first time since Kanturk triumphed over St Patrick's Ballyragget in 2018. Since then, Charleviille, Fr O'Neiil's and Castlelyons have all unfortunately come out on the wrong end in Croker.
App?
