Murphy praises Treaty efforts

Redemption was achieved by both teams in Sunday’s thrilling All-Ireland semi-final, according to Kilkenny defender Paul Murphy pictured right.

The Danesfort man was the toast of the county’s contingent in Croke Park when he climbed to catch a last-gasp ball into the danger area, which was quickly followed by the final whistle.

“I don’t think I even knew I had caught it for a second ‘cause you could hear lads were coming in on top of it. A lot of other days, you wouldn’t catch it especially with the conditions and that but thankfully I got it.”

Even if his gathering of the ball confirmed Limerick’s exit from the competition, he felt both teams proved points.

“We knew Limerick weren’t going to give up. They probably felt a bit disappointed from last year’s semi-final, that they didn’t perform the way they wanted, and this year wanted to make up for it.

“I think they did make up for it. Thankfully, we got through and it’s a massive tribute to them how they played.

“Making the quarter-final last year, it wasn’t our aim to lose out and not make a semi-final and not even get to Croke Park.

“It was a big loss but we’re just focusing on each game because each game was intense from Galway or Dublin. Last year is put aside.”

Murphy acknowledged Limerick “outdid” Kilkenny at stages of Sunday’s match and admitted it took them longer than their opponents to get to the pitch of the game.

“Their intensity at the start was a little bit higher than ours maybe but we got ours up to their level as well we knew what they would come with. I think the fact it didn’t surprise us meant we were able to keep calm.

“In any match a team is going to have a purple patch and you have to ride a storm. Teams will get a run on you at some stage and you will get your chance and it’s just a matter of taking your chances when they come.”

Like Murphy, his clubman Richie Hogan put in a tremendous individual display and Murphy praised the manner in which he took his goal just before the break.

“Richie took it upon himself. He has been leading all year. He is a corner forward, he knows what to do. He is in midfield and he stuck it. It was a great lift for us and came at the right time.”