Murphy eager to get Rebel show ‘back on the road’

CORK defender Brian Murphy says he and his teammates are looking forward to “getting back on the road” against Laois in the All-Ireland hurling qualifiers on Saturday.

The stylish defender said that while Cork were disappointed to lose to Tipperary in a gripping Munster SHC semi-final, Saturday is the idealopportunity for them to get back into action.

“It’s disappointing to lose any championship match, and Cork versus Tipp is a huge rivalry,” said Murphy.

“We did well enough in the game and made a good recovery in the second-half, it was just a disappointment we couldn’t kick on.”

The Bride Rovers clubman paid tribute to the performances of the newcomers to the Cork team: “It was a major positive, the way the new lads were able to slot in and make a big contribution. It doesn’t get any more daunting than Cork-Tipp, and if you make your championship debut in a game like that and do well, then it shows you’ve got a bright future at senior inter-county level.”

Still, Cork left Semple Stadium empty-handed. However Murphy says the defeat is a thing of the past.

“We’ve put that behind us now and we’re concentrating on getting back on the road for in the qualifiers. Laois will present a big test this weekend, particularly in Portlaoise, and we’re preparing for a hard game against them.”

Murphy featured on a Cork side which took on the midlanders in a pitch opening last month in Dromina, north Cork, but he warns that the Leesiders’ facile victory that evening will have no bearing on the game this weekend.

“That’s long gone, long forgotten,” said Murphy. “We won well that night but you know what they say about the league and championship being two different ball games — take the difference between them and multiply it for a challenge game or a pitch opening. You don’t have next or near the same level of competitiveness.

“We were trying a lot of different players that evening, and to be fair to Laois, they were too. The one thing we’d probably take away from that evening was Willie Hyland’s performance. He was very good in Dromina — I think he got the man of the match — and was probably the best player on the field. He’s strong and accurate and will take a lot of watching this weekend.”

Murphy stresses he’s not just talking up the opposition: “Not at all — you only have to look at Galway-Westmeath to see what can happen if you’re not tuned in. Everyone had Galway marked down as easy winners there, but Westmeath gave them enough of it on their own patch. It’s the same scenario this weekend — you’ll probably have a lot of pundits marking us down to get the result on Saturday, but I can tell you we’ll have to scrap hard from start to finish.