Murphy wary of Bohs threat ahead of cup final

It’s been four years since Wexford were last in a cup final or won a trophy of any kind. Memories of the 2021 FAI Women’s Cup Final must come flowing back for senior players in the Wexford squad like Kylie Murphy and Lauren Dwyer as they prepare for this weekend’s All-Island Cup Final against Bohemians in Ferrycarrig Park. For a club as big as Wexford, that’s a long time to go without winning a trophy, and captain Kylie Murphy acknowledges things have been tough ahead of this weekend’s clash.

“We had our last training session on Thursday so it’s full steam ahead. What will be will be, cup finals are cup finals, anything can happen so we’re just hoping for the best and everything else will take care of itself. 2021 was the last one up in Tallaght, so long ago. We had a little bit of a wobble there for a few years, it’s hard to keep winning everything, it’s been a little bit of a transition with managers coming in and things like that. Sometimes you will hit a dip, the league is getting stronger and stronger, it’s not as easy anymore, there’s no lesser teams anymore. It’s a cup final, if you’re not going to show up for that, you might as well now show up at all. It’s also a trophy we’ve never won. It’s about getting belief back in the squad, that we can win things, that we are good enough.” 

Wexford are going in as favourites but they actually haven’t beaten Bohs this year so far in two meetings with the Dubliners, something Kylie was keen to remind people of.

“I’m surprised at that, I am and I’m not. I don’t think we’ve been overly great the last few years. I suppose we’re down as favourites because of our history. We are a couple of places ahead of them in the league so I guess that’s why we’re going in as favourites but on form I’d say Bohs should be favourites. We’ve played them twice and lost to them twice, that’s why I’m confused that we’re going in as favourites. We played them in the league up there and they beat us and they knocked us out in the FAI Cup. They’ll fancy their chances though and we’ll have to be at our very best to beat them.” 

She says they’re ready for the occasion. “Really looking forward to it, there’s nothing like a cup final week. I’ve been in a few of them already so it’s nice for the younger girls to see what it’s like and some of the older players who haven’t experienced this yet in their careers. It is a good week and a great day. It’s nice to have home advantage too, the club deserves it, they put in so much hard work every year. It’s a plus having at Ferrycarrig because the club are trying to put on a good day for it. There will be a fun day with loads of inflatables, they’ll be on the back pitch for all the kids and we’ll be doing a fanzone before the game too with a Q and A session. It’s about trying to make it family friendly.” 

After a tough few years, Wexford are slowly getting themselves back into a title picture. They currently sit in third place in the league, six points behind leaders Athlone with a game extra played. A defeat last weekend to Treaty put any hopes of catching the leaders just out of reach.

“We’re alright, we had a bit of a wobbly start. New management in though so it takes time to groove together. If we were still there [against Treaty], we still wouldn’t have scored. I feel like it’s gone now, I don’t see them dropping that many points. You never know though, we just have to focus on ourselves and put points on the board. The aim now is to finish as high as we can, we won’t be giving up though. Yeah it surely would [be a good achievement to finish top 3], and it sets a platform for next year too.” 

Kylie had the honour of presenting her close friend, teammate and fellow Carlow woman, Lauren Dwyer with a special commemorative jersey recently to mark Lauren’s 200 appearances for the club.

“Unbelieveable is Lauren, she’s fantastic, the team would be nothing without her. It was a great achievement for her and her family to make her 200th game. It was really nice [to get to present her with the jersey], I’d be very proud of Lauren, I’d be very close to her. Seeing her achieve something like that is really really special for me. Not only to be there, but to give her the jersey, and play the game with her was really lovely. It meant the world seeing her come back to Wexford this season and get to play with her again.” 

She saved special mention for the two other Carlow girls in the squad, Aoife Kelly and Roisin Joyce. 

“Aoife’s a character I’ll tell you, it’s been really nice having her in, obviously her talent speaks for itself but even in the dressing room, she’s really funny and she brings a bit of lightness to the dressing room and the squad. We’ve been after Aoife for years so delighted to finally see it get across the line and get her in. Roisin is flying it, she’s a right dinger so she is. She’s playing a good bit with the senior team now, and doesn’t look one bit out of place, she’s going to be a fantastic player.” Kylie recently became a mother for the first time with her partner Essmay giving birth to a baby girl. Murphy says that whilst she’s too young now to understand what’s going on, that hopefully one day she’ll be able to tell her about the occasion.