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ALL BOH TO GYPSY KINGS; Murphy is confident Pat's Bohs will reign.


Byline: By PAUL O'HEHIR

TOP stopper Brian Murphy Brian Murphy is the name of:
  • Brian Murphy (actor) (born 1933), British actor most noted for his role as George Roper in the sitcom George and Mildred
  • Brian Murphy (cricketer) (born 1976), former captain of the Zimbabwean cricket team
 insists it would be "foolish" to dismiss Bohemians title chances this season.

The Phibsboro club have undergone quite a transformation from last year and a win tonight would see Pat Fenlon's men move top of the table - until Sunday at least.

While much has been made of leaders St Patrick's Athletic's bright start, Bohemians have crept crept  
v.
Past tense and past participle of creep.


crept
Verb

the past of creep

crept creep
 along under the radar This article is about the magazine. For other uses, see Under the Radar (disambiguation).

Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution." It features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots.
.

And having put their early season defeat to St Pat's behind them, the Gypsies have kicked on and turned a few heads in the process.

Not that Murphy is surprised.

"People keep telling me this is the best start Bohemians have had for a long time, but we know what we're capable of and have a great chance to go top," he said.

"We have to look at trying to win the league this year, why not? We'd be fooling ourselves if we said we'd just settle for a top two finish.

"We got third last year, which was great considering Bohemians finished ninth the year before. But we can push on again, if we're not aiming for the league there's no point being here.

"Just look at our squad, everyone wants to win medals.

Quite a few of us have no medals yet but the lads who do are just as hungry, if not more so, to add to their collection. We want to win every game we can and see where that takes us."

But despite finishing third last season, all was not as it seemed at Bohemians. Sean Connor's tenure ended in controversy and the club deemed it necessary to remove him from his position at Christmas.

In came Fenlon and the former Shels boss has revitalised Adj. 1. revitalised - restored to new life and vigor; "a revitalized economy"; "a revitalized inner-city neighborhood"
revitalized

revived - restored to consciousness or life or vigor; "felt revived hope"
 morale and turned the team's fortunes around The Gypsies are no longer the ultra defensive team of last season . Murphy only conceded con·cede  
v. con·ced·ed, con·ced·ing, con·cedes

v.tr.
1. To acknowledge, often reluctantly, as being true, just, or proper; admit. See Synonyms at acknowledge.

2.
 17 league goals last term, the best record in the league but the strikers ahead of him were misfiring.

But under Fenlon the team plays a more expansive, free flowing game. Owing to owing to
prep.
Because of; on account of: I couldn't attend, owing to illness.

owing to prepdebido a, por causa de 
 that, the defence may leak a few more goals but having conceded just four in seven league games, Murphy is again on top of his game.

"It's going to be very hard for me to keep the same amount of clean sheets," he admitted.

"I didn't expect to keep as many having come to a new club. It was a good record for the team, frightening really.

"But for me consistency is everything. I'm getting there slowly at the moment but I've yet to hit my best form.

"I haven't been overworked in games being honest and hopefully that doesn't change tonight!

"Everyone knows what went on at the club last season, it's no hidden secret," he said.

"There's a reason why there's a new manager in charge.

But Pat's got a good group of players together and when we're under the cosh we can now dig out a result.

"We've scored in every game bar one, so we're creating chances.

Last year we couldn't create them. And defensively we're still looking solid, I haven't had too much to do in the games. It's a good sign."

Last weekend's win over champions Drogheda United made many observers sit up and take notice. But Murphy says it is testimony to Fenlon's approach to fitness that the team remained up for the fight until the very death.

Having taken a first-half lead, Drogheda fought back to level late in the game. Many teams would have settled for the point on the road - but not this revitalised Bohs side.

They knuckled knuck·le  
n.
1.
a. The prominence of the dorsal aspect of a joint of a finger, especially of one of the joints connecting the fingers to the hand.

b. A rounded protuberance formed by the bones in a joint.

2.
 down, kept plugging away and got their reward four minutes into injury-time when Killian Brennan Killian Brennan (born January 31, 1984 in Drogheda, Republic of Ireland) is an Irish football (soccer) player currently with the League of Ireland club Derry City F.C.. Career  coolly slotted home a winning penalty.

"Everything boiled down to fitness and attitude. If everyone is honest we are much fitter now and can go and close out games like we couldn't in the past.

"If were weren't fit, we might have settled for a point against Drogheda but even when they scored we pushed on for a winner. It's all about attitude and being focused.

"We'll be focused on Derry.

They're a good team and gave us the run around last year.

"But we're ready for the challenge and a good game.

After that who knows where the season takes us. It's a long year, but we're already going about things in the right manner."

"We have to look at trying to win the league this year, why not? We'd be fooling ourselves if we said we'd settle for a top two finish.

IN SAFE HANDS

BRIAN Murphy is continuing in the same vein as last season conceding only four goals in seven games this term after only picking the ball out of the net 17 times last season

CAPTION(S):

MATCH WINNER: Killian Brennan
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Title Annotation:Sport
Publication:The Mirror (London, England)
Date:Apr 25, 2008
Words:802
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