Murphy out to make the most of opportunity at hand
Nanci Murphy taking the game Sarsfields during Kilcullen's impressive semi-final win. Photo: Aisling Hyland
County midfielder, Nanci Murphy, has been playing for Kilcullen since transition year and she says and has witnessed the club climb through the championship ranks to appear in their first senior Final in Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Friday.
“There's huge excitement,” she enthused.
“First time for the club, first time in my career. It's incredible.”
Now 26 we wondered if the strong running midfielder was able to appreciate previous successes with The Rags.
“Looking back now in hindsight, I probably didn't realise the momentum that we were building in the club at that stage. You're coming from minor or U16’s where we were more successful coming up so you take the wins as they come, but then the older you get, they're few and far between. So definitely as I get older, I realise how special it is,” she smiled.
Murphy took time away from the intercounty scene for four years but continued playing with Kilcullen. She returned this year to be part of the Kildare team that reached the Leinster Final before losing to Dublin.
“Other things in life took over but this year I said I'd make a good go of it with club and county. I really put all my effort into it. It's been an incredible year, ups and downs with injury. I tried to get back as quick as I could for that final. I dislocated my shoulder in the weeks before. So definitely yeah, definitely an up and down year but huge milestones for me personally,” she said enthusiastically.
Murphy credits manager Ed Burke and his management team for the victory over Kill in a tough quarter final.
“It was the management that really drove home that we were to put the bodies on the line. There were a lot of Roy Keane quotes that were put in that week by Ed Burke that we had to up our physicality and we had to up our intensity. If we didn’t, we knew what would happen,” she explained.
Kilcullen were underdogs against Sarsfields in the semi-final but that didn’t faze Murphy and her team mates.
“What's special is when you're in the dressing room within those four walls, you know that you are capable. You just have to do it on the day. I'd say perhaps we were underestimated by Sarsfields. It's always difficult playing Sarsfields, let alone in their back garden. Perhaps we were seen as underdogs or underestimated but either way, we knew that we were heading to Newbridge to win,” Nanci says confidently.
Her sister, Sally would have been on the Kilcullen team in the past but she has now joined older sister, Ruth as a long-distance runner.
“Ruth will be running the Dublin Marathon in October so they make me feel unathletic,” she laughs.
Mum, Siobhan and Dad, Tom are great supporters according to Nanci.
“They're pitch side. They love this far corner here, that’s where they'll always be,” the midfielder says pointing to a corner of the pitch in Kilcullen.
What is she expecting from Eadestown we asked finally?
“Competitiveness, that intensity and that grit that a team can only bring out of your opponents. They really make you rise to them so we're all looking forward to that,” Murphy says.
“I’m looking forward to being together with this squad on Friday evening. They're so special,” she concludes.
