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Óige Murphy singing in the rain


The contrast in climates couldn’t have been more marked but there was no doubt as to where Cratloe’s Óige Murphy preferred to be.
Martin Oige Murphy and Barry Gleeson celebrate. Photograph by Declan MonaghanThere is no way that the Cratloe midfielder would have swapped the heat of last May 29 for the wind and rain of Cusack Park on November 21.
That May evening, Newmarket beat Cratloe 2-11 to 0-9 in the group stage of the championship and it appeared a cast iron certainty that the South-East Clare senior hurling team was going nowhere.
“It was a perfect day for hurling and we lost by eight points. After that I don’t think anyone thought we had it in us. But we picked it up with Fiach O’Loughlin coming on board, which was excellent help,” Murphy told The Clare Champion. 
“We’ve been constantly going week in, week out and the momentum built up over the last few weeks has just been unbelievable. It has been a great last few weeks,” the dual player, who scored the winning point in Cratloe’s intermediate football final defeat of Corofin, added.
This coming Sunday, Cratloe play St Patrick’s from Limerick in the first round of the Munster intermediate club championship. The following Sunday, the hurlers take on Ballygunner in Walsh Park.
Murphy says that he has heard word that the Cratloe footballers were due back training on Tuesday night. On Sunday he wasn’t sure if Colm Collins’ plan was viable.
“That’s the rumour going around. We’ll set what time the Woodcross or Setrights close. What day they close,” he said.
Although it had rained incessantly the days before the county final, Óige Murphy felt that the pitch was in good condition.
“We were here last week as well and we knew it was soft enough. But it was great nic today. I thought it would be a lot worse after all the rain.”
As for Clonara, Murphy still admires them, despite having disposed the 2008 champions.
“They were great champions. We had to go to the last two minutes and we just sneaked it in the end,” the diminutive Cratloe man concluded.

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