Brendan Murphy (born 26 March 1989) () is an Irish sportsman from Rathvilly, County Carlow. He is a member of the Carlow senior football team, and his local club Rathvilly.
Underage with Carlow Murphy played minor football for Carlow, including on the team that lost the Leinster minor football championship final in 2007. Carlow lost in Round 1 of the championship to Longford, but recovered in the playoffs, causing a shock in beating Meath and Wexford, before beating Westmeath and Louth to reach the final.
For a while, it looked like Murphy might miss the final through suspension after receiving a straight red card in the semi-final against Louth. However, this was overturned on appeal, after video evidence showed that Murphy had been incorrectly disciplined by the referee, and he lined out against Laois in the final at Croke Park.
Carlow trailed by 3-6 to 6 points at half time (all three goals coming from corner forward Conor Meredith), but staged a comeback that included a goal from Jordan Lowry. But spurned chances, including a goal chance for David Kinsella and a missed penalty by Cormac Mullins, saw the comeback fall short, as Laois took yet another minor championship crown on a score of 3-8 to 1-12.
Murphy's performances in the championship led to him being offered a contract with the Sydney Swans AFL team in Australia.
His final game in Carlow before departing for Australia was in the U21 county championship final, which Rathvilly won by 0–5 to 0–2. Murphy scored Rathvilly's fifth point.
Sydney In early November 2007, Murphy left Ireland and moved to Sydney, Australia to attempt a switch from Gaelic football to Australian rules football. Murphy wrote a column in Carlow newspaper The Nationalist, entitled "Down Under", about his time in Sydney. He made an impressive start in 2007. In March 2009, while playing for the Swans Reserves in the AFL Canberra league, Murphy badly injured his shoulder, requiring surgery, just weeks after being forced out of football by a foot injury.
After two years in Sydney, Murphy decided to turn down the offer of a contract extension to return to Ireland in late 2009 and resume his Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) career.
Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos expressed the club's disappointment at Murphy's decision, and their hope that he might be persuaded to reconsider a return to the club.
After Murphy's return to his club, Rathvilly defeated Old Leighlin to win the 2009 Carlow Senior Football Championship, their first in five years.
2010 In 2010, with most of the 2007 minor panel on board, Carlow had ambitions of winning the Leinster Under 21 Football Championship for the first time ever. Lining out at midfield, Murphy scored a vital goal in extra time in the Preliminary Round to beat Offaly in Tullamore, before Carlow beat Kilkenny in the next round. Murphy scored five points in the game.
Carlow faced Dublin in the semi-final on Saint Patrick's Day. Murphy scored 0-3 from play. However, his Man Of The Match winning performance wasn't enough to beat Dublin, who ran out one point winners in extra time, by 0-14 to 0-13. The game ended in controversial circumstances, when Murphy appeared to be fouled by three Dublin defenders close to goal. However, the referee awarded a free out where a free in would have left Carlow with a point to equalise, and Dublin survived, going on to win the All Ireland.
Murphy was awarded the "Cadbury Hero of the Future" award for March 2010 for his performances against Offaly and Dublin.
Carlow did not fare well in the Leinster SFC Championship, however. While Murphy scored 3 points from midfield, they were well beaten by Wicklow in the preliminary round, before losing by 6 points to Derry, a game Murphy missed after receiving a red card the previous day.
Murphy and Rathvilly returned to the Carlow Senior Football Championship final in October 2010, again facing Old Leighlin. This time, however, the outcome was reversed, with Old Leighlin triumphant. Game one ended level at 0-7 each. Rathvilly looked set for victory, after building up a three-point lead. Murphy kicked three points, but also a couple of wides. A Seamus Kinsella free levelled matters in the dying seconds, to force the tie to a replay the following Sunday.
This presented Murphy with a problem, as he was due to line out for Ireland in the International Rules Series against Australia in the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick the day before the replay. He decided to play both games, but was visibly tired for the county final, and saw a red card in the final few minutes as Old Leighlin prevailed on a scoreline of 1–11 to 0–7.
2011 In 2011, Murphy missed almost all of Carlow's NFL Division 4 campaign due to an ankle injury sustained in their second game against Fermanagh. Carlow were ultimately denied promotion on the final day with defeat in a "winner takes all" game in Longford.
In the Leinster SFC quarter final that June, however, Murphy kicked three points (including one directly from a sideline ball) in the final 10 minutes as Carlow shocked Louth in Portlaoise on a scoreline of 0-14 to 0-13. The result sent Carlow into their first Leinster SFC semi final since 1958. Carlow were, however, defeated in the semi-final by a superior Wexford team. Murphy scored two first half points, but Carlow were beaten 4-12 to 0-10 on the day.
Carlow's season ended two weeks later at Casement Park in Belfast when they were beaten by Antrim on a scoreline of 1-13 to 2-9. Despite being reduced to 14 players for the final 20 minutes, Carlow reduced the deficit from five points in the closing stages, thanks in part to a Brendan Murphy goal, and ended up beaten by a single point.
Murphy again missed out on success in the club championship, when Rathvilly were beaten 11 points to 10 by Tinryland in the semi-final.
Murphy was again chosen to represent Ireland in the International Rules series against Australia, and was this time part of Ireland's most successful trip ever "down under". Ireland defeated the Aussies over two legs by 130 points to 65.
2012 The 2012 National Football League campaign was a disappointing one for Carlow, when early home defeats to Leitrim and Clare (by 2 and 1 points respectively) put paid to promotion ambitions.
In the Leinster Championship, Murphy was an outstanding performer as Carlow almost caused the shock of the year when they drew 1-12 apiece with Meath in Tullamore. Murphy scored a point from midfield, but it was his running with the ball which caused Meath all sorts of problems. A Carlow side depleted by injury (Daniel St Ledger) and suspension (Derek Hayden and Paul Reid) were beaten in the replay (2-21 to 9 points, Murphy again scoring a point), but ran Laois (who went on to reach the All Ireland quarter final) close in Portlaoise in Round 1 of the qualifiers, eventually losing 1-10 to 9 points. This result precipitated the resignation of Carlow manager Luke Dempsey after a four-year reign.
In the Carlow Senior Football Championship, Rathvilly finished top of Group A, but lost the semi-final to Palatine, who had also beaten them in the 1st round encounter between the two teams. During the game, Murphy was involved in an off-the-ball incident with Palatine midfielder Niall Reid which almost led to Reid being suspended for the final. However, Reid was eventually cleared to line out in Palatine's defeat to Éire Óg.
2013 2013 brought with it more disappointment in the National Football League. Under new manager Anthony Rainbow, Carlow won their first game in Thurles against Tipperary, before scraping a home win against London. It was all downhill from there though, as Carlow lost successive games to Leitrim, Limerick, Offaly, Clare and Waterford.
In the Summer, Carlow were beaten 3-15 to 1-10 in Mullingar by Westmeath in the 1st round of the Leinster Football Championship, before exiting the championship altogether against Laois at Dr. Cullen Park. Murphy was deployed at full forward in Mullingar and kicked five points (four from play) but also kicked several wides in a mixed performance.
In what was the first ever All Ireland Football Championship game played on a Friday night, Carlow led Laois at one point by 6 points to 1, with Murphy kicking 3 points. However, Laois gradually began to exert dominance at midfield, with man of the match (and former Minor rival of Murphy's) John O'Loughlin in flying form, and eventually ran out winners by 3-13 to 0-12.
In the Carlow SFC final, Rathvilly once again succumbed to Old Leighlin, this time on a scoreline of 1-10 to 1-8. A slow start was Rathvilly's undoing, as they found themselves 1-4 to no score behind early in the first half, though they fought their way back into the game by half time. Though he did not score, Murphy was to the fore for most of the game. The crucial moment was a point-blank save by Old Leighlin keeper James Clarke in the 52nd minute, where a goal would have given Rathvilly the lead for the first time in the game.
2014 Murphy did not involve himself with the Carlow Senior team in 2014. There was much speculation as to the reason, with varying theories suggesting a fallout with manager Rainbow, or the need to avoid injury ahead of deployment abroad with the army. Murphy was sorely missed by the county team, who, after another disappointing league campaign, succumbed to embarrassing defeats against Meath in the Leinster Championship and against a newly resurgent Clare in the qualifiers, though a close win over Waterford in the previous round of the qualifiers provided some solace.
In the club championship, Murphy was deployed in the half back line for Rathvilly, and was often a stand-out player at number 6. In the Carlow SFC final, Rathvilly and Old Leighlin renewed hostilities; this was the fourth time in six years they had met in the decider. And Rathvilly it was who evened up the score at 2-2, defeating their rivals 2-9 to 1-10 in front of an attendance of 3,500. As captain, Murphy had the honour of lifting the trophy, though his involvement was limited by injury (he left the field after 38 minutes) and he failed to register a score.
2015 2015 brought a new manager (Carlow native Turlough O'Brien of Éire Óg) and with it new hope of a change in the team's fortunes. Murphy's return to the panel, and the addition of several new players, was a huge boost and Carlow had a decent run of results in the O'Byrne Cup, including victory over Louth, and a near miss against Kildare, losing to a last minute goal. This gave Carlow some momentum to continue into the league.
After four games they sat unbeaten in third position following wins over London (at home) and against Waterford in Dungarvan, as well as draws in Belfast against Antrim and at home to Wicklow. Murphy received black cards in the dying stages of both the game against Waterford and against Wicklow, as he sought to preserve what Carlow held. Despite some positive results, an injury to star forward Paul Broderick in Belfast was to serve as a big blow to both their league and championship ambitions as he did not participate again for the rest of the season.
Carlow travelled to Tullamore on St Patrick's weekend, knowing that their game with Offaly would go a long way to deciding their promotion fate, and that of their hosts. Darragh O'Brien's goal put Carlow in control midway through the second half at 1-9 to 0-9, but Murphy left the field of play (injured) with 15 minutes remaining and his absence was a turning point as Offaly fought their way back and came out on top by 0-14 to 1-10 with a score in injury time. Carlow's promotion hopes were put to bed the following week, following a decisive defeat at the hands of Leitrim. They were defeated again a week later by a Longford team who had just secured promotion.