Antrim and Lamh Dhearg’s Ryan Murray was Antrim’s scoring hero as the Saffron’s overcame a resolute London in the NFL Division 4 in Ruislip on Sunday. Ryan, an ardent follower of the Saffron Gael spoke to us today and gave his thoughts on the game and how he feels the team are progressing this season.
Ryan Murray Interview
SG – Ryan you turned in a man of the match performance against London on Sunday. How do you feel about your performance.
RM
Like any performance both personally and as a team there is always plenty of room for improvement but I suppose I was happy that I racked up a decent tally of 7 or 8 points and helped the team to a much needed win away in London. However as a player your always wanting to improve and be better the next time you step out on the field, so the 2 wides I kicked I will review and see how I can improve.
The win against London was essential to keep our aim of promotion on track, it was a very tense game on Sunday with London showing why they had gained a win and a draw in their last two games against Wicklow and Limerick. We did well to come in at half time a point down (0-8 – 0-7) playing against a strong breeze and in the second half I felt we were much the better team but never really pushed on as we would have liked and put the game to bed. Much credit to London though, they kept coming at us and they were very accurate converting a very high percentage of their attacks into scores. Thankfully with around 10 mins to go we managed to get a few unanswered scores and create a lead which we maintained until the end of the game.
All in all, it was good win in Ruislip and a good weekend for team bonding. The way Gaelic is these days you tend to see more of your team mates than your family at times but a lot of the lads are close friends outside the county setup which helps and so it is always a good laugh staying away for games, being on the flight and hotel together etc.
SG – The team have played 7 competitive games this year, three in the McKenna cup and four in the league how do you feel the team are progressing.
RM
I feel we are progressing well, I think the management used the McKenna cup well and got a look at everyone and we had some good team performances and from that Lenny & Brendan selected a small panel of around 28. In the National League so far we got off to winning ways against Leitrim and followed that up with a hard fought win away in Waterford and then slipped up with a draw at home to Wicklow and thankfully got back on track with a win against London. As players we are still learning from every game and I’m sure the management are also in terms of tactics and still getting to know every players strengths and weaknesses. We have three very tough games left (Laois, Carlow and Limerick) but promotion is still in our hands and we now must step up as a team.
SG – Lenny Harbison took over the management at the start of the season. What new has he brought to the table.
RM
Lenny has come in this season alongside Brendan Trainor and a full new backroom team. I’d say if you spoke to the majority of the lads on the panel they would say it is a different approach than what we may have been used to. This is my 7th consecutive year on the Senior Panel and Lenny is the most tactical manager I have played under and I and all the lads are enjoying playing under him and I think regardless if we don’t get the results we want on the pitch this year, each member of the panel will become a better footballer by the end of the year and hopefully this transpires into results on the pitch. Lenny has built a panel of lads who are proud to play for Antrim and that want to represent their county to the best of their ability.
SG – From my recollections Antrim played Laois in the championship qualifiers in 2015 (Correct me if this is wrong) and you scored a very important match winning goal while Chris Kerr saved a penalty. What are your recollections of that game
RM
Indeed, we played Laois in the championship qualifiers in 2015. I probably had one of my best games in a saffron jersey that day scoring 1-05 from play. I wasn’t named to start that game until about an hour before throw-in which probably helped my performance as I felt I had something to prove. My recollection from that game is vague in parts, I remember at one stage we trailed Laois by 9 points and Russ (Frank Fitz) & Gearoid Adams spoke to us at half time and told us to step up and get our act together or our season was over. The second half we came out flying which was kick started by Chris Kerr saving a penalty from Ross Munnelly and then Dermot McAleese got the winning goal to defeat Laois by 2-15 to 1-16 in O’Moore Park.
SG – We played Laois last year and defeated them in Corrigan Park. This weekend’s game will obviously be vital in our push for promotion. How do you see that game going.
RM
Yes, we played Laois last year (2017) in division 3 and got the better of them by two points (1-10 – 0-11) in a very tight game at Corrigan Park. This weekend’s game is crucial for both teams, Laois will be giving everything to get a win and stay top of the division and ultimately, we need to win or our chances of promotion will look very slim.
We will be going into the game as underdogs as Laois have 4 wins and the game is in their own back yard, so the game is really set up as a championship encounter and it is great to be playing games like this in Early March. Laois have a great team with some great players who are known throughout the country but so do we, so the game will come down to who makes the least mistakes and takes the higher percentage of their chances.
SG – Any other thoughts on how the season is going and any of your own personal thoughts you wish to share with the Saffron Gael.
RM
I’d like to urge all of the Saffron Supporters to come out and support the team this year, to date the support has been great at Corrigan Park and a big thank you to those who made the effort to attend the games in Waterford and London. The players and management are working hard to get the results on the pitch and represent the county to the best of our ability. So, I’d just like to appeal to all of the saffron followers to support the county this year, whether it be development squads, ladies teams or the senior footballers or hurlers. Momentum is building in the county and with Casement Park on the horizon, there is no reason why the county can’t start to make strides forward this year and in years to come.
I’d also like to say well done to The Saffron Gael on their coverage of games both at county and club level for both codes over the past year and hopefully they will be bringing good news to the readers over the coming year.