Willie Dunphy: ‘I should be in Cancun now drinking cocktails on a beach!’

Laois hurler Dunphy married fiancee, Niamh, on December 3 and their honeymoon plans amounted to the holiday of a lifetime; Cancun, Las Vegas, New York, and returning home for Christmas to carry on the party

Wed, 15 Dec, 2021 - 06:00

Paul Keane

Willie Dunphy should be in Mexico right about now, drinking out of tall glasses with little umbrellas in them and toasting the good life.

The experienced Laois hurler married fiancee, Niamh, on December 3 and their honeymoon plans amounted to the holiday of a lifetime; Cancun, Las Vegas, New York. After that, they’d return home for Christmas and carry on the party.

Hurling, however, has got in the way and instead of the Americas, Dunphy was in Portlaoise last Saturday, braving the sticky pitch, biting cold wind, and driving rain to help his club Clough Ballacolla secure an AIB Leinster final place this weekend.

As if to underline just how necessary his presence was, the forward conjured a magical 58th-minute point which helped seal a battling three-point win over Kilmacud Crokes.

Their reward? A trip to Croke Park this Sunday for a shot at perhaps the greatest club team of them all, back-to-back All-Ireland title winners Ballyhale Shamrocks.

“I should be in Cancun now drinking cocktails on a beach!” smiled Dunphy, who admitted he wrestled with his conscience when deciding whether to stay or go.

“It was a hard decision. I had my mind made up after the county final that if we were to beat Rapparees in the Leinster club, that I was going to go on honeymoon then because I have put a lot of things on hold for hurling throughout my life and I really wanted to enjoy the two weeks that we were going away.

“Yeah, it was a hard decision but I would have also said that if we beat Crokes and got to the final at Croke Park, it was going to be one of the best decisions that we ever made. Thankfully, it turned out to be one of the greatest wins our club has ever had.”

Clough Ballacolla hadn’t won a game in the provincial championship before overwhelming Wexford representatives Rapparees in the quarter-finals last month. Now after beating Crokes they’re preparing for a Christmas outing at Croke Park.

The new Mrs Dunphy, Niamh Guy, is a respected figure within the GAA world herself as a physiotherapist to inter-county teams who has worked for many years alongside herbalist Sean Boylan in Meath.

“We’re booked to go now on St Stephen’s Day,” said Dunphy of the revised honeymoon plans though he isn’t foolish enough to guarantee anything. “We’ll see how next weekend goes. We’re on a rollercoaster at the minute.”

Clough Ballacolla won the delayed 2020 county final last August and within three months had retained it. Then came the historic provincial run, beating the Wexford and Dublin champions, to many people’s surprise.

“We’ve been underdogs for every game this year, even in Laois,” said Dunphy. “In the Laois semi-final we were underdogs, the same in the final. Against Rapparees we were slight underdogs and again with Kilmacud Crokes. But the performances have been really good. I don’t think people realise how good some of our players are. Our backs are just excellent, you won’t get an inch off any of them.”