While it's not unusual for GAA players to play in one place and train in another, Portarlington's Australia-based contingent certainly took it to the next level when they returned from Down Under to drive their side to a Laois SFC title last weekend.
Portarlington and Portlaoise played out an enthralling Laois SFC Final this weekend with Portalrington's goals proving to be the winning formula in their 3-13 to 0-13 win.
On a day when the finest of margins mattered, it was Portarlington's Australia contingent who were the heroes, as the town's finest returned from Down Under to seal the deal in the local derby.
No fewer than three of Portarlington's stars made the 17 000km trip from Oz to the Midlands for the occasion, with returnee and man-of-the-match Colm Murphy laying claim to 1-6 of Portarlington's final tally, while Robbie Pigott and Paddy O’Sullivan also appeared from the bench to see out a 16th County Title for Port.
13 October 2024; Colm Murphy of Portarlington during the Laois County Senior Club Football Championship final match between Portlaoise and Portarlington at Laois Hire O'Moore Park in Portlaoise, Laois. Photo by Tom Beary/Sportsfile
Colm Murphy hails Australian farm work after MOTM performance
Speaking about his emphatic return from Australia on Clubber after the game, Colm Murphy hailed his side's sweetest win yet, joking that the infamous farm work in Australia had been keeping him fit for the occasion.
Absolutely (worth the trip), it's a priviledge to play with the lads. Obviously we've won a couple before but I think this is the sweetest one yet, like the lads were written off all year, they trained hard, like Pat said they were going to peak in September October and I think in the last couple of weeks we've seen that.
I'm doing a bit of farmwork at the minute (in Australia) so that's keeping me fit, but no Andrew Evans had given me a bit of a programme the last couple of weeks just to try get back up to speed. Anyway just to help the lads, but they were flying it so it was easy just to get back up to speed a bit.
While Portarlington manager Pat Roe hailed the relentless nature of his team and the impact his Australia-based players had, he did reveal that choosing the foreign-based players over lads who'd been 'in the trenches all year' was a difficult but worthwhile decision.
I'm really proud of the lads, from start to finish we took the game to Portlaoise. We had a gameplan set out to attack from the start, we put ourselves in a posititon to win at halftime and we pressed on from there so I'm really really proud of the lads.
Yeah look you're right it is difficult (to choose returning players), the lads who were here all year who really dug in and were in the trenches all year...they played their part today. It was a difficult decision, but when we get that result it's worth it all.
Having driven their town to a fourth county title in five years, the three lads are now all set for a return Down Under, with man of the match Murphy, his medal and award all set to be back on a flight to the land Down Under by Tuesday.
