Murphy high hopes for Youths

The 2014/15 Women’s National League saw the title leaving the capital for the first time when Wexford Youths defied the odds to secure their first league title, the league victory also secures Youths a place in the coveted UEFA Women’s Champions League which begins in August.

Recently Extratime.ie had the opportunity to speak with skipper Kylie Murphy and talk about her side’s league victory which culminated after several seasons of improvement.

“The belief in the squad was always there and having finished the previous season lifting the  League Cup we knew then that with some hard work we could and were good enough to challenge for the title.”

At the start of last season Wexford Youths changed their management and despite an early slip up against the then champions Raheny United, Murphy explains that the new coaching structure helped to push on and gain the improvement that was needed to win a Women’s National League crown.

“Will and all the coaches are every bit of the reason we done so well, that day we lost to Raheny was obviously disappointing because nobody likes losing but we didn't let it affect us badly if anything it made us work harder because Raheny are a fantastic team and we knew that if we wanted to challenge for a title that was the level we needed to reach.”

Despite the defeat against Raheny, the Youths squad then went on a run of 12 games unbeaten which culminated in them been crowned league champions at Morton Stadium after a 2-1 victory over Raheny United.

However Murphy explains that after been crowned champions to see her side lose their final two league games against Peamount United and UCD Waves was disappointing way to finish a great campaign.

“Yes of course we were disappointed with the last two defeats but it was always going to be hard to keep everyone focused when we reached are target before the season ended.”

With the league season finishing in mid-April for Youths, the squad has enjoyed a good break away from football before returning to pre-season in late June to begin preparations for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers in August. Murphy described the great excitement of been back training.

“Yes everyone is delighted to be back there was a good buzz around training on Sunday. Everyone is excited to start preparing for champions league and next season, and we have a few new girls in training.”

As Wexford prepare for their debut in the Champions league Kylie reveals that it will be a huge achievement and honour to play in such a prestigious competition and she is confident that her side can match the achievements of Raheny in 2014 by reaching the last 32.

“I think it's fantastic and such a huge honour to go and compete in the Champions League, it's something new in my sporting career and to say I'm excited is an understatement.

“Of course I believe we can match Raheny achievements, they had a brilliant campaign last year and hopefully with a lot of hard work we can accomplish the same.”

With success in the last two season Murphy has her sights set extremely high for the 2015/16 campaign, and recalled that they are aiming for the treble. Despite having extra games to contend with Murphy does not expect the extra demands to derail their ambitions

“We aim to do the treble and no I don't think the extra games will have effects, as we have had a good couple of weeks off so everyone should be well rested and ready for the season ahead.”

After watching some of her fellow teammates be successful with Ireland, Kylie spoke of her own ambition to put on the green shirt of Ireland, but also explained that the main focus is playing for Wexford Youths.

“Yes of course, it was massive for the club when the girls got their well-deserved call ups, on a personal level it would be an honour to get a call up but right now I'm just focusing on Wexford Youths and how we can step it up to another level.”