NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE PREVIEW
By Kieran Murphy
CARLOW open their National Football League Division 4 campaign one week later than the rest of their rivals when they face Leitrim in Dr Cullen Park on Sunday.
With London bringing the total to nine teams in the division, Carlow found themselves the odd team out and will have been curious onlookers as the first phase got underway last Sunday.
Leitrim will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. It will be to Carlow’s disadvantage that they will be playing the Connacht side without a recent competitive game under their belts.
Luke Dempsey dismissed the poor result when his team were well beaten by Laois in the O’Byrne Cup Shield game three weeks ago. “We didn’t place any importance on any match until the Leitrim match. The O’Byrne Cup and Shield is there to experiment with players. The most important match for us is next Sunday,” he said.
Even though the manager says he doesn’t put too much emphasis on these pre-season jousts he still does what any manager would do when pointing out the quality of the opposition.
“Leitrim were impressive in the FBD League. They had a good win over Roscommon and GMIT. They take their football very seriously up that end of the country. There are not that many other sports up there. It will be a tough opener and one that will be a very important one to get a result in,” he said.
Leitrim have been hit by emigration with at least four players from last year’s panel unavailable. Key forward Emlyn Mulligan underwent an operation recently and will not be available to joint managers Barney Breen and George Dugdale who took over from Mickey Moran who stepped down for health reasons at the end of the season last year.
After the Leitrim opener there is a break for one week before Carlow take to the air for a game in London. The games come thick and fast without a break for seven weeks. It is relentless and Dempsey emphasised the importance of the large panel which he has been working with.
“There is a great turnout and lads are fighting for positions. In my four years it has been the most competitive panel with lads fighting for positions. There is great competition for positions, especially in the forwards.”
Before a ball is thrown in Carlow will have to do without Derek Hayden and Kieran Nolan. Paul Cashin, Willie Minchin and Pat Hickey are all long-term absentees but Rathvilly’s JJ Smith will bring a welcome cut to the forward line. The manager will also be keeping an eye on Sigerson Cup activity and will have breathed a sigh of relief that Darragh Foley, Sean Gannon and Conor Lawler came through unscathed in IT Carlow’s extra time defeat to DIT last week.
He says the selectors have formed an idea how the team will line out for their first match but says those who are left out should not be disappointed.
“We are going to need everyone on the panel through seven consecutive weekends. We will have injuries and it will be a panel effort over the seven consecutive weekends and I am looking forward to Carlow’s best year since I came down.”