Paul Murphy arrives by helicopter to inspire Rathmore

East Kerry O’Donoghue Cup holders, Rathmore, chose to fly in one of their top players by helicopter on Saturday last — 20 minutes before the throw–in — for their East Kerry SFC semi-final meeting with Kilcummin, played at the Fitzgerald Stadium Killarney.

However, when that player is 2014 All-Star and All-Ireland Final Man Of the Match, Paul Murphy, the club thought it worthwhile and rather than a taxi ride from Cork to Killarney.

Murphy proved a pivotal figure in Rathmore’s two-point win.

Murphy, 24, was doing an accountancy exam at the Bishopstown GAA Complex on Saturday morning which was not due to finish until 1.10pm, so desperate action was called for. Paul’s dad Donal, is Rathmore club chairman and he takes up the story.

“We had to have Paul on board for our semi-final against Kilcummin and we also had corner back Conor Jenkins doing an exam in CIT on Saturday morning.

“So we decided that hiring a helicopter was our only option. We hired one from Galway and fortunately the pilot was Liam Warren, a Rathmore native.

“It was a delicate operation in terms of timing as the helicopter could not land on the Bishopstown GAA pitch, until the exams were over.

“Paul was not allowed out until 1.20pm but thanks to the Bishopstown club chairman, the helicopter was up and gone within a few minutes.

“It landed at 1.50pm on the Dr Crokes Pitch in Lewis Road and both Paul and Conor were quite relaxed as they made the short journey across the road to their teammates in the dressing room. Paul was eating a banana and drinking water and both lads warmed up and did their stretching on the floor of the dressing room as Denis Moynihan was delivering his team talk. It was costly but at the end of the day, we would not have won the semi-final without them, so it was worth it.”

Murphy was to emerge man of the match, lining out on the 40, scoring 1-3 from play, as Rathmore edged home 3-10 to 1-14.

However, Rathmore threw away a nine-point lead early in the second half, as Kilcummin fought back to level with only minutes remaining. However Murphy lifted the siege and was involved in the build up to the two injury-time points that secured an O’Donoghue Cup final appearance next Saturday against Killarney Legion, a repeat of last year’s final.

The Rathmore chairman explained that panel member, Michael O’Mahony was stranded in Limerick last Saturday doing exams, while former Kerry minor Donal O’Sullivan was exam tied in Edinburgh last Saturday but both should be available for the semi-final.