Kieran Murphy

A narrow 2–14 to 2–13 victory over Bride Rovers gave Murphy a county senior championship winners' medal and gave 'Sars' a first county final win since 1957.

Kieran Murphy (born 22 February 1983 in Glanmire, County Cork) is an Irish former sportsperson.

Murphy first came to prominence on the inter-county scene as a member of the Cork minor hurling team when he was just sixteen years-old in 1999.

He enjoyed little success in his debut season, however, in 2000 Cork reached the provincial minor decider.

Limerick provided the opposition on that occasion, however, they were no match for 'the Rebels'.

A 2–19 to 1–10 trouncing gave Cork the victory and gave Murphy a Munster winners' medal.

The subsequent All-Ireland final saw Cork take on Galway.

A high-scoring encounter saw 'the Tribesmen' take the title by 2–19 to 4–10.

In 2001 Murphy was in his third and final season as a member of the Cork minor hurling team.

They surrendered their Munster title to Tipperary following a conclusive 1–13 to 1–6 defeat.

Cork, however, still had a chance to claim the All-Ireland title via the 'back door'.

Murphy gave one of his best-ever displays in the All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny when he scored 3–6.

After coming through the All-Ireland series Cork reached the All-Ireland championship decider.

For the second year in succession Galway were the opponents.

Murphy produced a fantastic exhibition of hurling in that game, scoring 1–5, as Cork went on to win by 2–10 to 1–8.

It was his first All-Ireland minor winners' medal.

Murphy subsequently joined the Cork under-21 team, however, he enjoyed little success in this grade.

He played hurling with his local club Sarsfields and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 2003 until 2011.

After experiencing little success at minor level, Murphy was a key member of the 'Sars' under-21 team that reached the final of the county under-21 championship in 2003.

Valley Rovers provided the opposition on that occasion, however, they proved no match for Murphy's side.

A 3–11 to 0–12 score line gave victory to Sarsfield's and gave Murphy a county under-21 winners' medal.

By this stage Murphy was also a member of the Sarsfield's senior hurling team.

He lost back-to-back Munster deciders to Tipperary in 2003 and 2004, with Murphy serving as captain in the former year.

Murphy's performances at under-age levels brought him to the attentions of the Cork selectors at senior level.

He made his senior championship debut in 2003, a year which saw Cork's players emerge from a bitter stand-off with the county board, however, he played no part in the county's Munster final victory and subsequent All-Ireland final defeat.

2004 saw Cork reach the Munster final once again and, for the second consecutive year, Waterford provided the opposition.

In what many consider to be the greatest provincial decider of them all, both sides fought tooth-and-nail for the full seventy minutes.

Unfortunately for Murphy, Cork lost the game by just a single point on a score line of Waterford 3–16, Cork 1–21.

Although Cork surrendered their provincial crown they were still in with a chance of landing the All-Ireland title.

After manoeuvring through the qualifiers Cork reached a second consecutive All-Ireland final and, once again, Kilkenny provided the opposition.

This game took on a life of its own for a number of reasons.

Chief among these was the fact that Kilkenny were attempting to capture a third All-Ireland title in-a-row and go one ahead of Cork in the All-Ireland roll of honour.

The game was expected to be another classic; however, a damp day put an end to this.

The first-half was a low-scoring affair and provided little excitement for fans.

The second-half saw Cork completely take over.

In 2008 the club reached the county final of the senior championship, with Murphy serving as captain.

Murphy was appointed captain of the team for 2010.

Murphy announced his retirement from inter-county hurling in 2011 due to work commitments outside the Cork area.

Murphy plays his club hurling with his local club called Sarsfield's and has enjoyed much success.

He first came to prominence as the club enjoyed an under-age boom in the early years of the new century.