Extratime.ie Premier Division May Player of the Month: Dan Murray
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
An excellent defensive run throughout April and May meant Cork City didn’t concede in over 500 minutes of football. Extratime.ie Player of the Month for May, Dan Murray was at the heart of the defence, though the key moment in the month was his headed winner at home to Derry City which gave the Leesiders a brief lead over champions Bohemians.
“It was nice to score the winner in a big game. That was probably the highlight of the month but every game was great. It’s been our best month so far. Obviously, if we can beat Sligo in the cup next week and Dundalk the week after we’d be in a great position before the break and we can crack on for the rest of the season,” said Murray on being presented with the award.
The back-line had been essential to the run, and the club captain took great pride in the defensive record. After the stalemate with Shamrock Rovers, he said: “We didn’t concede for five of the six games. However, we’ve left ourselves down conceding three goals in the two games prior to Rovers. The gaffer had a chat with us on Thursday and he said we’ve got to get back to not conceding goals. The most pleasing thing about tonight is another clean-sheet against a very strong Shamrock Rovers.
“It’s a point gained if you look at how Bohs’ got on tonight. You can say we done everything we could but just didn’t get the win. We bombarded and battered them through 90 minutes but it just wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully, though, we’ve saved up a couple of goals for the next few games.”
Bohs losing to St Patrick’s Athletic came as a big shock but a nice one for all concerned with the Leesiders. Murray, though, was keen to take a wider outlook at the situation. “We would have taken this position at the start of the season and with Derry winning again this weekend, we’ve all pulled together a bit closer. It’s still all to play for but it’s too early to talk about winning leagues. We’ve to move on with confidence in the next couple of games.”
The Leesiders’ impressive unbeaten run lasted ten games, with nine wins coming from that, as well as seven clean-sheet’s. During the run, Murray established an impressive partnership with extratime.ie columnist, Greg O’Halloran. However, like all good things, the 27-year-old knew that it had to end somewhere. “We went on a fantastic run of 10 games where we didn’t lose,” he said. “It was going to come to an end at some stage, it’s just a shame it came against Bohemians at home.
“Last Tuesday we didn’t follow up with a good performance. We let ourselves down a little but it (a blip) was always going to happen. We haven’t lost too much ground, though. Now we just want to start another good run. That would put us in a really good position and we’d be able to start talking about going into the last series of games with our hopes and dreams for the end of the season still alive. It’s still too early to talk like that, though, so we’ve to concentrate on the next couple of weeks.”
Trophies aren’t won in May though, and Cork will need to beat Dundalk before the mid-season break in a fortnight’s time to keep their hopes of a first league title since 2005 alive.
“It was nice to score the winner in a big game. That was probably the highlight of the month but every game was great. It’s been our best month so far. Obviously, if we can beat Sligo in the cup next week and Dundalk the week after we’d be in a great position before the break and we can crack on for the rest of the season,” said Murray on being presented with the award.
The back-line had been essential to the run, and the club captain took great pride in the defensive record. After the stalemate with Shamrock Rovers, he said: “We didn’t concede for five of the six games. However, we’ve left ourselves down conceding three goals in the two games prior to Rovers. The gaffer had a chat with us on Thursday and he said we’ve got to get back to not conceding goals. The most pleasing thing about tonight is another clean-sheet against a very strong Shamrock Rovers.
“It’s a point gained if you look at how Bohs’ got on tonight. You can say we done everything we could but just didn’t get the win. We bombarded and battered them through 90 minutes but it just wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully, though, we’ve saved up a couple of goals for the next few games.”
Bohs losing to St Patrick’s Athletic came as a big shock but a nice one for all concerned with the Leesiders. Murray, though, was keen to take a wider outlook at the situation. “We would have taken this position at the start of the season and with Derry winning again this weekend, we’ve all pulled together a bit closer. It’s still all to play for but it’s too early to talk about winning leagues. We’ve to move on with confidence in the next couple of games.”
The Leesiders’ impressive unbeaten run lasted ten games, with nine wins coming from that, as well as seven clean-sheet’s. During the run, Murray established an impressive partnership with extratime.ie columnist, Greg O’Halloran. However, like all good things, the 27-year-old knew that it had to end somewhere. “We went on a fantastic run of 10 games where we didn’t lose,” he said. “It was going to come to an end at some stage, it’s just a shame it came against Bohemians at home.
“Last Tuesday we didn’t follow up with a good performance. We let ourselves down a little but it (a blip) was always going to happen. We haven’t lost too much ground, though. Now we just want to start another good run. That would put us in a really good position and we’d be able to start talking about going into the last series of games with our hopes and dreams for the end of the season still alive. It’s still too early to talk like that, though, so we’ve to concentrate on the next couple of weeks.”
Trophies aren’t won in May though, and Cork will need to beat Dundalk before the mid-season break in a fortnight’s time to keep their hopes of a first league title since 2005 alive.
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile