Ryan will give Offaly student toughest exam

EXAMS finished for another college year, cushy number helping out the oul’ fella, a GP, in his surgery at home for the summer holidays: should be party time for UCD medical student Brendan Murphy.

However, Brendan has another vocation, full-forward on the Offaly senior hurling team attempting to win its first Leinster title since 1995, but two words, endlessly repeating, intrude on his summertime reveries. Darragh Ryan.

“Enough said,” he laughs. “Everyone knows the quality of Darragh, he has one Allstar anyway, should have three or four. At the moment he’s probably the best full-back in the game, maybe even over the last three or four years.”

Ryan is the Wexford full-back, superb stickman, magnificent athlete, supreme under the high ball with a soaring leap and safe telescopic hand, confident enough to attack the low ball, knowing his pace will allow him, as it did in their semi-final win over Kilkenny, to get back and recover.

A challenge? Murphy agrees, but doesn’t back off.

“Physically he’s going to be towering over me, but hopefully the ball will come in favourable to me.

“But he’s only one player on the Wexford team. As a unit, we saw how effective they were against Kilkenny, they played superbly in every line, beat Kilkenny in 13 of the 15 positions. How many times does that happen to Kilkenny? It’s the All-Ireland champions, supposed to walk the All-Ireland three-in-a-row, I don’t know how many Leinsters-in-a-row they were going for (seven). Wexford made them look like a mediocre team, which was some achievement, and they’ll be favourites on Sunday.”

A more pointed reason for optimism however, Darragh Ryan notwithstanding, is the quality of the Offaly full-forward line, led potently by Murphy, Damien Murray in the left corner and the flying Brian Carroll at top of the right.

While Wexford’s win over Kilkenny blew open what had become a stale, predictable Leinster championship, Brendan disagrees with any suggestion that Offaly are delighted to see the back of the Cats (for the moment at least) and fancy their chances much more against Wexford.

Instead, he argues the time had come when both of them, Offaly and Wexford, had to step up to the plate.

“You have to give Wexford as much respect as you would Kilkenny, they beat them fair and square. If this was boxing, Wexford would now be the reigning champions, having dethroned Kilkenny.

“Over the last few years, after all the success of the ’80s and ’90s, Offaly hurling started to slip and we have to change that. Of all the lads in training tonight, Brian Whelahan is the only one with a Leinster medal. That’s not good enough really.

“We all have underage medals but the senior is what you’re gearing for, that’s what you’re there for.”