Football

Andrew Murnin a man for all seasons: Kieran Donaghy

Armagh's Andrew Murnin with Mayo's Conor Loftus
Armagh's Andrew Murnin with Mayo's Conor Loftus Armagh's Andrew Murnin with Mayo's Conor Loftus

ARMAGH assistant Kieran Donaghy lauded the impact of target man Andrew Murnin after a string of brilliant performances in Division One this season.

Up until this season, the all-action St Paul’s man was Gaelic football’s best-kept secret. Throughout his inter-county career, he’s shown some incredible flashes but constant struggles with injuries – mostly hamstring issues – saw him purged from Armagh’s panel far too often.

But this year Murnin has enjoyed an injury-free period and has been one of the top performers, not only in Armagh’s ranks but throughout the four Allianz divisions.

“I remember seeing Andrew years ago and taking note of him, even when I was still playing. I think the game was in Newry but I remember there were two or three catches in the game when I was like ‘wow’,” Donaghy said.

Murnin excelled during last Saturday’s Division One win over Donegal, fisting over two points and converting a ‘mark’.

He’s always been much more than his scores as he’s only amassed six points in five games, but his overall contribution is immeasurable.

Against Donegal, he caught umpteen balls and laid off some too as Ethan Rafferty aimed quite a number of his kick-outs in his direction.

“He is a totally unselfish player,” Donaghy added.

“He always thinks about the team first as do a lot of our fellas. It is a message that would come strongly from Kieran McGeeney all through his managerial tenure with this group – the team before everyone else.

“But Andrew really epitomises that – he has had a very tough run.

“The way he competes for ball; he throws himself around. There’s probably a reason he has had a run of injuries because he doesn’t really see any danger and just thinks about Armagh winning the game and the way he attacked those few balls against Donegal when shots dropped short.

“Again, out in the middle of the field he made a massive jump and tapped down to Greg McCabe for a break – just totally unselfish.

“He is an absolute pleasure to deal with and a player this team really admire – the way he goes about things and that’s what it's all about, just trying to help Armagh win, nothing about himself and that’s very refreshing.”