Attacking ace Denis Murphy says Mount Leinster Rangers can bounce back from their All-Ireland final heartache.

The Carlow and Leinster champions were second-best against Portumna of Galway in yesterday's Croke Park showpiece but Murphy sees no reason why Rangers can't return to the big stage in the coming years:

"We've won three in a row in Carlow and the Leinster title and got to the [All-Ireland] final but I have to say, we still didn't win it, it's not much good getting here if you don't win it," he told The Irish Examiner.

"But this gives us hope that we can get here next year, maybe the year after. There's no reason why we can't.

"At the end of the day, it's one club against another club and it just proves that if one group of players believe, then this is how far they can come.

"We kind of proved it to all the small clubs in the country that if they believe hard enough, they can get to the big time and that we, or they, can get across the line the next time.

"It's not an ageing team, it's a young team and we have a good structure in the club as well so there are young players coming up the whole time.

"We can definitely push on. We've got our first Leinster title and our first All-Ireland final out of the way.

"Maybe we were a bit awestruck, it could have happened to some of the players maybe, but there's no reason why we can't move on and be like the Portumnas and Ballyhales. I know we're from Carlow, but why not?" Tweet

Most Read Stories