Galway minor hurling manager Mattie Murphy is bidding for his fifth All Ireland title in the grade as Galway take on Kilkenny on Sunday next at Croke Park. However the task ahead is a mammoth one as Kilkenny are on a roll.

The jovial Murphy said that "maybe we shouldn't even turn up. Sure everyone was talking about Tipperary and just look at what Kilkenny did to them, they went to town on them".

PLOTTING SUCCESS . . . Galway minor manager Matt Murphy and team trainer Michael Haverty finalising prepartions at training in Gort on Saturday morning. Photo: Alan Gallagher

Murphy and his selectors were due to finalise their team last night as they bid to give hurling in the county a badly needed boost.

"Things are going well but you never know in an All Ireland final as things often take on a mind of their own," added Murphy. But the Turloughmore native added that things weren't going too well in some of their games.

"The team has a good work ethic and that will take you out of most trouble. The panel have been working hard on ball work and the approach is to make maximum use of the ball when we have it. That will stand to any team if we can get it right," he said.

Murphy is used to appearing in All Ireland minor finals and this is his eighth final appearance at the helm with Galway in the grade. He has always believed in the policy of quality stick work.

"There is no point in having a team super fit if they are not able to play the ball.

"Pressure is something that you should never find yourself in and to be honest, I didn't think we would find ourselves in such difficulty against Wexford but our players displayed character and maybe we mightn't have beaten Cork if we beat Wexford easily.

"We try to keep players away from any hype and things like that and for the big games we let the players live their normal life right to the morning of the game,' said Murphy.

Whatever road Mattie Murphy and his team have been using has surely proved successful over the years. As a player Mattie Murphy played in Galway senior finals with Turloughmore and Gort and played with Gort when they reached an All Ireland final.

After successful stints with Tierneevan National School and with underage teams in Gort, Mattie began his county managing career with Galway Under 14 team when he guided the first Galway team to win the Tony Forrestal title in 1989. There was always the automatic progression and Murphy's success continued winning All Ireland minor titles in 1992, '94, 2004 and '05.

In 1995, Mattie moved up the hurling ranks, taking hold of the Galway senior hurling team and won the National Hurling League in 1996, but Galway have not won the All Ireland senior title since 1988.

Looking beyond Sunday next Mattie Murphy said that he does not see the senior job as an issue again. "There is too much politics involved and after four successive All Ireland minor finals, I couldn't get half the delegates to put me in again as I wasn't wanted the next year, so what chance have I looking at the senior job again".

It now looks like a case of been there done that for Mattie Murphy. However at minor grade no matter what the result on Sunday next, he will go down as Galway most successful minor manager.

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