Murphy enjoying coaching role with Tyrone minor set-up

By Niall Gartland

LONG-STANDING Galbally footballer Sean Murphy has absorbed the lessons of many years on the football field and is now bringing that expertise to the Tyrone Minor set-up in a coaching capacity.

Formally, Murphy is the team’s Strength and Conditioning coach, but he’s also lending a hand on the sidelines and he’ll be hoping the team’s unbeaten run since the very start of the season remains intact come the final whistle of Sunday afternoon’s Ulster Minor Championship Final against Cavan at Brewster Park.

Not only is Murphy imparting his own knowledge, but he’s picking up tips and tricks from his colleagues in the management team, including manager Gerard Donnelly and familiar faces Ciaran Gourley and Niall Morgan.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s provincial showdown, Murphy said: “I worked with the Academies the last two years, and Gerry’s roped me into doing a bit of coaching, so I’m trying to fill as many roles as I can.

“It’s unreal having the opportunity to learn from Gerard, Niall and Ciaran – any night you go to training you’re always picking something up to add to your own coaching.

“I do my job as S&C coach first and foremost and then add as much as I can elsewhere. I’d say I’m learning as much as our players are, so it’s great.”

This Tyrone minor team have shown a real desire and capacity to learn and improve, and now they stand on the cusp of a first Ulster title for the county since 2021. Murphy points out that football in the province is a bearpit to say the least, as evidenced by the fact that Derry won back-to-back All-Ireland titles in 2022 and 2023.

“These are the best players from all our clubs, they’re all there on merit and all very coachable.

“They’re a great bunch of lads, they’re very modest and will do any job you ask of them – if they have a different position to fill on any given day they’ll do it without any hassle.”

He continued: “Tyrone probably should be playing at this level, but it’s very hard to get into this position because there’s so many games and so many good teams, like Derry in the last couple of years.

“It’s a challenging province to play your football but in saying that our U-20 team are blazing a trail and I think our lads look up to those players. Gerard and Ciaran have worked with basically all those U-20 lads and it’s great to see that they’ve kicked on from their minor campaigns.”

The Red Hands have already beaten Cavan twice this year already – a convincing win in Garvaghey in the Ulster League before carving out a six-point victory in a round two Ulster Championship clash at the start of May. It would be unwise to make any assumptions about how this Sunday will go, however, as the Breffni County are proving themselves to be a resilient bunch.

Murphy added: “We’ve played them twice already and they were both very similar games. They’re a really good side – they overcame Donegal in the semi-final and that’s no mean feat. We knew there was a good chance they’d come through the other side of the draw so we’re not surprised they’re our opposition in the final.”