2020 SFC Final Preview: Portarlington boss Murphy looking to bring 20 year famine to an end

The wait for the 2020 senior football final will be a mere distant memory in the eyes of the victors come Sunday evening as Portarlington and Graiguecullen both line up in O'Moore Park looking to bring an end to a long period without senior success.

Martin Murphy is the man tasked with bringing Portarlington to the holy grail for the first time since 2001 and he was happy enough with his sides' win over Ballyfin in the semi final when he spoke to the Leinster Express last weekend.

“Conditions were not ideal for either team but I thought we adapted reasonably well. We were patient and credit to Ballyfin, they defended well and they were hard to break down.

“Had we got one or two of the goal chances that we created, it might have been different and it might have opened up a little bit quicker. Defensively, we are happy with our semi final performance, we conceded 1-2 in the first quarter and didn't concede anything after that."

Laois County man Paddy O'Sullivan missed the semi final win with a leg injury and his manager wasn't overly optimistic of having the influential figure back for Sunday's final.

“Paddy O'Sullivan is still a big doubt for the County final. I'd say it would be a 70-30 chance that he might be able to tog out on the day.

“Having said that, the other lads who picked up injuries in the last few weeks came through their recovery thanks to our physio and we were delighted we had them.

“Paddy been missing takes a bit away from the out cutting edge and the way we want to play the game. That was missing at times against Ballyfin.”

His side came through lockdown with their fitness and hunger in tact but it has been a long wait particularly when they were going so well back in October of 2020 when the championship got pulled.

“The whole club was delighted that the game went ahead. It was a long wait. We were going really well through October last year and then we had a tough, low scoring game with O'Dempsey's and we were hoping we would have been playing within a fortnight after that.

“We had to sit back like everyone else. It has been a long wait but now that we are in a County final, it has been worth it.
“We have a good strength and conditioning coach, Paddy Lowry from Thurles and he had them in really good shape during lockdown.

“They stayed fit and when we did get a chance to get back to the field, we were hitting the ground running.”
They take on Graiguecullen in the final and while he didn't attend or watch their victory over Emo in on Friday night, he is all to aware of the threat that they bring to the table.

“I didn't see the game. I didn't want to count my chickens before they hatched and that's the only reason I didn't look at it.
“We know how good Graiguecullen are. We got over them in a replay in the quarter final back in 2019 and they will be coming back gunning for us big time.

“It's a 50-50 chance, both teams play open enough football and I would expect a good County final.”

Despite Laois GAA being under time restraints, the Portarlington boss is disappointed that both clubs weren't afforded a two week lead up to the final.

“It is the nature of the beast but I think two weeks should have been afforded to both teams.

“We are not crying over that but playing the two semi finals on different days gives one team an extra day of recovery and it does matter when teams are training at the levels that Portarlington and Graiguecullen have been training at.
“We roll with the punches and go with what we have.”

With County finals comes pressure, especially when a club hasn't won one in 20 years but the flip side to only having a week to prepare is that the build up won't be as drawn out and that could benefit his players.

“It's 20 years since Portarlington were in a County final whereas Graiguecullen were there in 2011. Some of those guys are probably still around and that experience will stand to them.

“The fact the final is only a week away doesn't give lads much time to think about it. The hype and ceremony that goes with County finals is somewhat gone out the door and we will just get back to training during the week.

“When you come this far and get to a County final, it is all about who wants it most. Things can go wrong on any big day but I would be happy with how things have gone and hopefully one or two lads with knocks will be alright in a week's time.”

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