Gemma Begley | Angela Casey | Annette Clarke | Nollaig Cleary
Edel Concannon | Katrina Connolly | Briege Corkery | Bernie Finlay
Lorna Joyce | Kate Leah | Fiona McHale | Sarah McLoughlin | Angie McNally
Valerie Mulcahy | Andrea Murphy | Juliet Murphy | Mary Nevin
Bronagh O'Donnell | Geraldine O'Shea | Grainne Smith | Cora Staunton
Aisling Tierney | Patrice Dennehy | Denise Masterson
Mags McAlinden | Niamh Kindlon

There is something strange happening in Kilkenny. In such a strong hurling heartland, football has become the more popular sport among women. Kilkenny used to have two ladies football sides, but this year 10 teams will play in the County Championship. Football-mania transferred to the inter-county stage last year, when the Kittens beat London by 3-5 to 2-5 to be crowned All-Ireland Junior football champions for the first time ever. The goals came from Sarah McCarthy, Lydia Phelan and Orla McCormack, but central to that success was corner-back Andrea Murphy, who held her opponent scoreless that day. Andrea wants to get back to Croke Park this year, and will captain the Kittens as they look to make the breakthrough in the Intermediate grade.

Kilkenny had an excellent year last year. What was your personal highlight?
Winning the All-Ireland Junior final was the highlight of the year. I only started playing in 2002 and we had a lot of newcomers. With a lot of the teams moving up to Intermediate, we felt we had more of a chance at Junior level. We lost the Leinster final to Carlow by a point, but we regrouped and trained really hard and said we would go for it, so to play in Croke Park on a big day was amazing.

Which is the toughest team you have ever faced?
It was probably London in last year's final. We beat them by a goal but I don't think we played our best football that day, we were very nervous and it was a very tight match.

Who were your heroes growing up?
Kerry's Maurice Fitzgerald would have been a player I really admired for his skill. Coming from Kilkenny, which is such a huge hurling county, we would also have grown up following the exploits of DJ Carey.

Do you play any other sports?
I play Camogie with my local club, which doesn't have a Ladies football team, so I line out with a different team, Railyard, for the football.

What’s the most important skill in your opinion?
That's a hard one - they are all important! I suppose passing is very important and learning to hand-pass well.

What advice would you give to young players?
Practise as much as you can and never give up. Work hard and anything is possible - Kilkenny started off with only two Ladies football teams and now we have 10!

What are your hopes for the future?
After the year we had last year, we just want to get back to Croke Park and try to win the All-Ireland Intermediate title.

Name: Andrea Murphy
Age: 26
Team: Kilkenny
Position: Corner-Back
Honours:
1 All-Ireland Junior title,
1 All-Ireland Junior Camogie title,
1 All-Ireland Club 7s title,
1 Leinster Club title,
2 Kilkenny Senior Club titles,
1 Laois Intermediate Club title,
1 New York 7s title.
Club: Railyard
Fav Food: Lasagne
Fav Book: Every Second Counts (Lance Armstrong)
Fav Band: Killers
Fav Film: Cinderella Man
Fav TV: No Frontiers
Occupation: Primary School Teacher

CúlFACT: Andrea holds a Laois Intermediate Championship medal, as her club, Railyard, used to contest the O'Moore County's Championship.

© March 2008