ANTO MURPHY THOUGHT long and hard about giving up League of Ireland football before a ball was kicked this season.
Having been dogged by injuries in 2014, a hamstring tear and dislocated ankle kept him out for much of the campaign, the 32-year-old questioned whether he could give the necessary commitment, especially as he was also attempting to get his new plumbing business off the ground.
“I was thinking to myself that I didn’t want to go through that again this season and also with work being so busy,” Murphy told The42.
The experienced midfielder, who won two Premier Division titles with Bohemians in 2008 and 2009, had been enticed to rejoin the north Dublin club for a second spell by Owen Heary after a frustrating time at Shelbourne and the distractions of his wedding had resulted in him playing junior football with local club Sheriff YC for a year.
Murphy helped the Gypsies claimed seventh in the table after returning to fitness for the final month of the campaign but then saw his manager and several players depart for Sligo Rovers — with Keith Long taking the reins as Heary’s replacement.
With a little persuading from his wife, Murphy agreed to stay on another year and it has certainly proved a good decision thus far. Five wins, one draw and a solitary defeat (to the champions Dundalk) has left Bohs sitting pretty in second after the opening month of matches.
“You have to be pleased because I don’t think anyone thought we’d have had the start and I’m sure a lot of the journalists and columnists would have had us in the bottom half of the table come the end of the season,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say we surprised ourselves too much as we did put a good shift in during pre-season and Keith (Long) and Graham (O’Hanlon) have us fairly fit. In comparison to last year, we are playing as a proper team this season.
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“That’s no disrespect to the players or the manager we had last year but we seem to have a solid backline, which I don’t think Bohs have had in the last few years. We’re doing very well defensively, whether it’s myself, Derek Prendergast, Derek Pender or Stephen Best, who came in for me when I was suspended. Everyone is pulling together.”
The squad is a blend of youth and experience, while there appears to be a real sense of unity among the players. Murphy puts that down to the hard work of the management team and their recruitment policy.
“Our budget would be probably less than a quarter of the likes of Cork, Dundalk, St Pat’s and Shamrock Rovers. Keith hasn’t just gone out to get outstanding individual players. He has brought in team players and you can see that with the likes of Dean Kelly, Kealan Dillon and Marc Griffin. It’s not all about them and they have done jobs for us.
There are a lot of young lads and they will come to the older players looking for advice so you talk them through it as much as you can.
“When (17-year-old) Stephen Best came in for me against Shamrock Rovers, I told him not to do anything rash and just to play his own game. It was his first league start for a senior team. He was probably man-of-the-match on the night!”
A midfielder/winger for much of his career, Murphy has recently been converted into a centre-half and it has paid dividends as they have conceded just three goals in seven games.
He admits that the new role has taken some getting used, although it is not the first time he has played at the heart of a Bohs defence.
“It wasn’t a big transition because I remember in the 2009 season when we won the league, we had Ken Oman and Jason McGuinness but both got injured,” he recalls. “Owen Heary went back to right full and then he got hurt too. So for the last five games it was myself and Brian Shelley playing centre-half.
“I didn’t find it too hard but you do have to adjust as I would be attack-minded as a midfielder. It is something I have been working on and it has paid off.”
Murphy during his Pat's days. Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
Starting with St Pat’s at Dalymount tonight, Bohemians have a tough run of games as Sligo Rovers, Derry City and Cork City are their other opponents over the next fortnight.
Even in the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Dundalk, which Murphy was harshly sent off in before the Lilywhites scored two late goals, Keith Long’s men held their own for large spells and they won’t fear the visiting FAI Cup champions.
The next four games, for me, will define where we are going to be towards the end of the season,” he said. “They are all top teams and if we get half the points on offer it would bring us up to 22 points for the first round of games.
“It’s never a good time to play Pat’s. They have got individual players who can turn it on and change the game in the blink of an eye like Killian Brennan, Chris Forrester and Christy Fagan.
“They’re probably on a bad run but we are still the underdogs going in. This is the team that won the league in 2013 and more or less kept that side together. Last season it didn’t happen for them but maybe they took the eye off the ball with the cup run.
“But we’ll have have every chance to earn the right to play and try get the three points.”
'We're playing as a proper team this season' - Murphy relishing new role with high-flying Bohs
ANTO MURPHY THOUGHT long and hard about giving up League of Ireland football before a ball was kicked this season.
Having been dogged by injuries in 2014, a hamstring tear and dislocated ankle kept him out for much of the campaign, the 32-year-old questioned whether he could give the necessary commitment, especially as he was also attempting to get his new plumbing business off the ground.
“I was thinking to myself that I didn’t want to go through that again this season and also with work being so busy,” Murphy told The42.
The experienced midfielder, who won two Premier Division titles with Bohemians in 2008 and 2009, had been enticed to rejoin the north Dublin club for a second spell by Owen Heary after a frustrating time at Shelbourne and the distractions of his wedding had resulted in him playing junior football with local club Sheriff YC for a year.
Murphy helped the Gypsies claimed seventh in the table after returning to fitness for the final month of the campaign but then saw his manager and several players depart for Sligo Rovers — with Keith Long taking the reins as Heary’s replacement.
With a little persuading from his wife, Murphy agreed to stay on another year and it has certainly proved a good decision thus far. Five wins, one draw and a solitary defeat (to the champions Dundalk) has left Bohs sitting pretty in second after the opening month of matches.
“You have to be pleased because I don’t think anyone thought we’d have had the start and I’m sure a lot of the journalists and columnists would have had us in the bottom half of the table come the end of the season,” he said.
“I wouldn’t say we surprised ourselves too much as we did put a good shift in during pre-season and Keith (Long) and Graham (O’Hanlon) have us fairly fit. In comparison to last year, we are playing as a proper team this season.
“That’s no disrespect to the players or the manager we had last year but we seem to have a solid backline, which I don’t think Bohs have had in the last few years. We’re doing very well defensively, whether it’s myself, Derek Prendergast, Derek Pender or Stephen Best, who came in for me when I was suspended. Everyone is pulling together.”
The squad is a blend of youth and experience, while there appears to be a real sense of unity among the players. Murphy puts that down to the hard work of the management team and their recruitment policy.
“Our budget would be probably less than a quarter of the likes of Cork, Dundalk, St Pat’s and Shamrock Rovers. Keith hasn’t just gone out to get outstanding individual players. He has brought in team players and you can see that with the likes of Dean Kelly, Kealan Dillon and Marc Griffin. It’s not all about them and they have done jobs for us.
“When (17-year-old) Stephen Best came in for me against Shamrock Rovers, I told him not to do anything rash and just to play his own game. It was his first league start for a senior team. He was probably man-of-the-match on the night!”
A midfielder/winger for much of his career, Murphy has recently been converted into a centre-half and it has paid dividends as they have conceded just three goals in seven games.
He admits that the new role has taken some getting used, although it is not the first time he has played at the heart of a Bohs defence.
“It wasn’t a big transition because I remember in the 2009 season when we won the league, we had Ken Oman and Jason McGuinness but both got injured,” he recalls. “Owen Heary went back to right full and then he got hurt too. So for the last five games it was myself and Brian Shelley playing centre-half.
“I didn’t find it too hard but you do have to adjust as I would be attack-minded as a midfielder. It is something I have been working on and it has paid off.”
Starting with St Pat’s at Dalymount tonight, Bohemians have a tough run of games as Sligo Rovers, Derry City and Cork City are their other opponents over the next fortnight.
Even in the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Dundalk, which Murphy was harshly sent off in before the Lilywhites scored two late goals, Keith Long’s men held their own for large spells and they won’t fear the visiting FAI Cup champions.
“It’s never a good time to play Pat’s. They have got individual players who can turn it on and change the game in the blink of an eye like Killian Brennan, Chris Forrester and Christy Fagan.
“They’re probably on a bad run but we are still the underdogs going in. This is the team that won the league in 2013 and more or less kept that side together. Last season it didn’t happen for them but maybe they took the eye off the ball with the cup run.
“But we’ll have have every chance to earn the right to play and try get the three points.”
SSE Airtricity League Premier Division
Friday (7.45pm unless stated)
Monday (7.45pm unless stated)
First Division (7.45pm unless stated)
– First published 07.35
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Anto Murphy SSE Airtricity League Premier Division Gypsies League of Ireland Bohemians