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The curtain closes on the inter-county career of Eoin Murphy, the encore will only be seen in the colours of Glenmore.
For over a decade he has been Kilkenny’s No. 1, a mainstay between the posts, probably the first name on the team sheet, but alas nothing lasts forever.
Could he keep going? It certainly feels like he could. At 36, he’s not crippled with injuries, his form hasn’t dipped and he’s not too old to play at the top level as a goalkeeper. His experience would be invaluable to Henry Shefflin and to the young backs learning their trade, on the other hand none of us want to see his decline come about in front of our eyes and it gives an opportunity for another goalkeeper to step into the fray and make the No. 1 jersey their own.
Would it be easier to keep going if Kilkenny were winning All-Ireland’s with regularity? I would say so. I have seen Murphy fall to his knees or fully collapse at the final whistle in recent years when Kilkenny have been beaten and I get the feeling that each season that ends in defeat it gets harder and harder to take for this ultimate competitor and harder and harder to come back with the same zest the following winter.
The timing of his announcement is impeccable, like his timing in coming off his line to deny an almost certain goal. For himself he is going out at the top of his game, albeit this was Kilkenny’s most ignominious season this century, while the timing for Henry, his understudies and the black and amber jersey is the most respectful and considerate.
It let’s everybody know where they stand as early as possible, which means over the winter and into the spring the proper preparation and acclimatisation can be afforded to this sacred position and No. 1 jersey, but boy these are big boots to fill!
And so, all we can do for now is reflect on the prowess of the Glenmore man in his time playing for Kilkenny and maybe ponder where he ranks in the pantheon of greats!
There’s a statue in Thomastown of the great Ollie Walsh, there is great reverence around his name for those who played with, played against or witnessed Ollie ply his trade, I’m too young to have seen him myself and too young to have seen Noel Skehan, another great name associated with the No. 1 jersey.
It would be folly of me therefore to rank Murphy against these men I haven’t seen play the game, but I have seen the likes of Michael Walsh, Kevin Fennelly, James McGarry, Joe Dermody, PJ Ryan and David Herity and I would have to rank Eoin Murphy as the No. 1 of the No. 1’s I’ve seen represent Kilkenny.
Could he be in the GOAT conversation? I think he’s definitely in the conversation! I don’t think I’ve seen a better one anyway!
Firstly, I don’t think he even sees himself as a goalkeeper! He strikes me as the reluctant ‘keeper, the guy who wants to play outfield but will go in on the goal for the sake of the team.
He played outfield for Glenmore in a variety of positions up to last year where he finally went back into the goal. When he got into Brian Cody’s squad he was keen to win an outfield position, but Cody only gave him the one opportunity away to Cork in the league as a forward and after that it was sub goalie until he was too good for that!
He could ping a ball on a flat trajectory straight into the paw of a striped jersey 40, 50, 60 yards away. He could land a free from over a hundred yards out.
He’s talking to the backs throughout the game, directing them, cajoling them, offering them an outball if they’re under pressure.
He is fearless under the high ball – remember that catch from over the bar in the last minute in the 2016 semi-final replay against Waterford to prevent another draw?
He is fearless, full stop. He will throw his body in the way, his hand, his head, whatever it takes to keep the ball out of the net. One of his maybe more underrated talents is his ability to read that last pass that puts the forward in on the goal, or so he thinks until he gets the ball and gets smothered by an onrushing Murphy putting his body on the line to save the umpire from reaching for the green flag.
How many umpires have been underworked on green flag duty when Murphy’s between the sticks?
Of course what he’s most famed for is his ludicrous shot-stopping ability. Raspers going into the top corner, daisy cutters going into the bottom corner, point blank efforts turned away time after time. The kind of shot you would expect a top goalkeeper to keep out maybe 1 or 2 times out of 10, Murphy seemed to keep them out maybe 6 or 7 times out of 10.
This must have been heartbreaking for opposition supporters, they see the space opening up for their guy in front of the goal as his teammate bears down on goal, “Pass it” they scream, the teammate releases it with perfect timing and straight to the hand of the guy waiting to tap it in only for Murphy to appear on the scene and smother the shot. “Where did he come from?”, they ask themselves startled. Or they see their top marksman bearing down on goal and they start looking at the net to see it dance as he gets the shot away only to see a flying Murphy get a hurl to it and the net remain still, heartbreaking, even for the opposition players themselves. Tellingly, Patrick Horgan on RTE this summer said that he and other forwards when getting ready to shoot on Eoin Murphy had to try to get the sliotar even closer to the corner in order to beat him which sometimes meant shooting wide, so even if he didn’t save a shot he might have been responsible for the ball going wide such is his presence!
Hours of dedication made Murphy the keeper he was, countless drills moving his feet, building his leg muscles that gave him that famous spring to pull off countless saves. Hand eye coordination of the highest order to firstly see a ball travelling at well over a hundred miles per hour from ten or fifteen yards and then to react to get his hurley to the right spot in a second or less to deflect that ball away – it’s incredible agility, strength, timing, fearlessness and practice, practice, practice.
That takes some commitment, maybe the reward for that commitment no longer merits the sacrifices that commitment brings and so the curtain closes as the crowd calls out for more.
We may never see the likes again…
Thanks Eoin, best wishes to you and your family for the future.
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