Mattie aiming for All-Ireland glory

MATTIE Murphy has seen many great days as manager of different Galway hurling sides but guiding Gort to All-Ireland club honours would rank with any.
This Saturday he will hope to move to within one step of achieving that dream. “It is a huge day for Gort hurling,” he said as he put the final touches to preparations for the game. “There are a few niggly injuries but I expect we will have a full panel available for selection come Saturday.”
Is it much different managing a club side compared to a county team?
“You have a much wider pick at county level, whereas you are working from a limited panel at club level. In the club scene, what you have is what you have. We are lucky enough in that we have a panel of quality players,” he replied.
Is there a great bond at club level where those involved work together and socialise together?
“There is an unusual mix. We have layers from 17 to 36 years of age, which is a big gap. The 17-year-olds wouldn’t be socialising with the older fellas. There are three groups really, the 17-year-olds, the 22 or 23-year-olds up to 28 or 29 and the older fellas,” he said.
The Galway minor manager of recent years agrees, “A lot of this panel have come through underage successes and practically three-quarters of the squad would have played U-21 in the last three years”.
He went on, “If you go through it, Galway teams haven’t a great record against Offaly teams at club or county level. They seem to rise to the occasion better than us.
“In 1981, we [Galway] were fancied to win a second All-Ireland and they stopped us and they did it three or four times subsequently. In ’92 they beat us in an All-Ireland U-21 semi-final.”
Is there pressure to win because of the success enjoyed by Gort’s neighbouring clubs? “You would be looking and saying that if teams that have represented Galway before could perform well, why not us,” he replied.
With regard to Gort’s opponents on Saturday, he said, “They have come through a fairly arduous Leinster campaign, beating the Dublin and Wexford champions, who had put out the Kilkenny champions”.
Given that Gort haven’t had a competitive outing since winning the Galway title over three months ago, has it been difficult preparing for this game?
“No, it hasn’t been hard. We took a few weeks off after the county final but trained all through December and since then. We have played a good few challenge games, two in the week after Christmas, against teams like GMIT, Cork IT, Dublin, Clare, UCD and NUIG.
“All of the teams left in the race haven’t had a competitive outing since the end of November and having a break like that is something we would be used to in Galway, where we have a big break in the middle of the championship each year.”
According to Mattie, “The winter skips by without noticing it because of being involved at this stage of the club championship. Usually there is a lull with regard to chatting about hurling but not this year,” he`said.
Murphy is expecting there will be a big crowd in Limerick on Saturday. “The venue is quite close to a lot of clubs in South Galway and North Clare, who will have more than a passing interest in the game,” he concluded.