Heartbreak for Stephen Murphy as he again finds one too good

The search for that elusive All Ireland winners medal goes on for Stephen Murphy, following another final defeat in the Golden Masters B singles decider at Na Fianna yesterday. So many times Stephen has got to the closing stages on these championships, only to find one too good and yesterday was no exception as he went down to the skillful Tom McCormack, Mayo on a scoreline of 21-10, 21-10.

The Castlebridge stalwart got a shocking start in this final and was soon 14-2 behind and while he did rally to reduce the deficit, he was constantly undone by an opponent who picked his spot with considerable ease. Murphy did not help his cause by failing to run an opponent over whom he had a considerable advantage in fitness but in fairness to him McCormack was very adept when it came to court positioning.

Five points on his first service game set McCormack on his way in the second game and while Murphy did battle hard he was never able to make the rallies long enough to bring his superior conditioning into play. By contrast McCormack played well within his comfort zone at all times and was well worth his victory.