Carlow beat Wexford in the first round of the Leinster Championship by 2-17 to 2-13. In truth, Carlow were much the better team, but two soft goals by Naomhan Rossiter and PJ Banville kept the model county in the hunt until Murphy broke away near the end to score a cracking goal. His total that day from midfield was one goal and two points. That win, Carlow's first in the Leinster Championship since 2011, set up a marquee match-up with All Ireland Champions Dublin in Portlaoise. Carlow set out to frustrate their more illustrious opponents, and many observers were shocked to see Carlow still within a score at the break; Dublin leading 0-8 to 0-5. There was still just four points between the teams with 22 minutes remaining when Murphy received his second yellow card after a tussle with Jonny Cooper, and Carlow could only manage one more score, eventually losing 0-19 to 0-7 with Murphy contributing one fine first half point (the first score of the game).