HE’S DONE IT as a player and now he’s done it as a manager.
Donegal captain Michael Murphy oversaw Letterkenny IT (LYIT) as they tasted All-Ireland success in the Trench Cup, the second tier Gaelic football championship at third level.
After beating Galway’s GMIT in Friday’s semi-final in Mallow, the Ulster college overcame Dundalk IT in a nail-biting final on a scoreline of 0-15 to 2-7 on Saturday.
Murphy’s men ended the clash the strongest, hitting the final six points as they came from behind to seal the college’s third crown. In doing so, they also put a heartbreaking semi-final loss last year to bed.
And the star forward was beaming afterwards, praising his troops for their efforts while sharing how much he enjoys management:
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“Lovely, I have to say,” he said. “It’s a great insight into it with LYIT there and the group of lads, it’s brilliant.
“We took huge learnings from last year. We went down into the weekend and we got beat in the semi-final. You try and tweak things from that.
“It’s a wee introduction to it but as I say, I look forward to getting back out to the playing field now. Sitting watching and trying to learn from it is not great for the heart, put it that way! It’d be nicer to be out there in the thick of it.
“Credit to the lads, it’s all about them.”
A Sigerson Cup winner with DCU in 2012 and All-Ireland champion with Donegal in 2012, Murphy was appointed LYIT boss in 2017 and has brought them from strength to strength since.
He explained that coaching and being hands-on with players is his favourite part of management.
“The coaching without a doubt,” the Glenswilly clubman said. “The coaching side of things is definitely the point of it.
“I suppose management encapsulates a lot of things in so far as you’re organising and ensuring everything is right behind the scenes as well as out on the coaching pitch and playing pitch.
“I just love getting out onto the pitch and working on things, trying new things and things that have worked before, taking learnings from coaches that I’ve had before. I’ve been very lucky to have played under a hell of a lot and still play under a lot. You take a lot and copy a lot of what they do.”
He added: “I see it all now.
“You see it from the coach’s side. You used to just think about being out on the pitch but in terms of the whole background of it, there’s a hell of a lot more to management than just being out coaching.”
- With additional reporting from Oisin Langan
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'It's a wee introduction to it' - Glory for Michael Murphy on the management front
HE’S DONE IT as a player and now he’s done it as a manager.
Donegal captain Michael Murphy oversaw Letterkenny IT (LYIT) as they tasted All-Ireland success in the Trench Cup, the second tier Gaelic football championship at third level.
After beating Galway’s GMIT in Friday’s semi-final in Mallow, the Ulster college overcame Dundalk IT in a nail-biting final on a scoreline of 0-15 to 2-7 on Saturday.
Murphy’s men ended the clash the strongest, hitting the final six points as they came from behind to seal the college’s third crown. In doing so, they also put a heartbreaking semi-final loss last year to bed.
And the star forward was beaming afterwards, praising his troops for their efforts while sharing how much he enjoys management:
“Lovely, I have to say,” he said. “It’s a great insight into it with LYIT there and the group of lads, it’s brilliant.
“We took huge learnings from last year. We went down into the weekend and we got beat in the semi-final. You try and tweak things from that.
“Credit to the lads, it’s all about them.”
A Sigerson Cup winner with DCU in 2012 and All-Ireland champion with Donegal in 2012, Murphy was appointed LYIT boss in 2017 and has brought them from strength to strength since.
He explained that coaching and being hands-on with players is his favourite part of management.
“The coaching without a doubt,” the Glenswilly clubman said. “The coaching side of things is definitely the point of it.
“I suppose management encapsulates a lot of things in so far as you’re organising and ensuring everything is right behind the scenes as well as out on the coaching pitch and playing pitch.
He added: “I see it all now.
“You see it from the coach’s side. You used to just think about being out on the pitch but in terms of the whole background of it, there’s a hell of a lot more to management than just being out coaching.”
- With additional reporting from Oisin Langan
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Donegal dream day GAA happy out lyit Michael Murphy Trench Cup Winner winner