Byrne insists experience has been a telling factor in securing Rathvilly a return to Leinster

By Stephen Leonard Kevin Byrne is unequivocal regarding just how much the heartbreak suffered by his Rathvilly team in last year’s Carlow Senior Football Championship has impacted their drive all the way to season’s title.

Now in his second term leading the side along with co-manager, JJ Smith, Byrne saw Rathvilly complete their march to the 2024 Championship crown following a 2-10 to 0-11 triumph over Palatine in last month’s final replay at Netwatch Cullen Park.

Just how much that campaign was fuelled by the bitter disappointment of losing out to Éire Óg on penalties in last year’s semi-finals cannot be underestimated according to Byrne.

Indeed, the agony of that loss was a decisive factor in persuading a number of the team’s most experienced campaigners to remain on for another year in a bid to help see the team fulfill a goal, they felt, should have been achieved the year before.

For Byrne, retaining players, the likes of Brendan Murphy and Ed Finnegan, was crucial in propelling Rathvilly to a league and championship double this time around.

And the Rathvilly boss is adamant they will prove just as important in the team’s attempt to make a serious impact on the 2024 Leinster Club Championship that sees them away St. Mary’s Ardee in 

DEFY Pairc Mhuire in Sunday’s quarter-final at 2.30pm.

“We were beaten on penalties in the championship semi-final by Éire Óg last year. We thought we were the better team but we left it behind us” recalled Byrne.

“Lads who were supposed to walk away and retire stayed on for another year. Just the fact that we had gone so well in the championship, we were the only unbeaten team.

“We had been leading all throughout that semi-final and, just the way we left it behind us, a lot of the players wanted to come back and give it an extra year to try and push it over the line.

“A lot of them have been playing senior football for 15 or 16 years and it wasn’t the way they wanted to leave it, going out on penalties.

“If we had lost comfortably or we didn’t think we were good enough, they would have walked away, but the fact that it was there for us and we didn’t take it, they decided to stay on.

“If we had won a championship last year we would have lost three, if not four players who are the wrong side of 35.

“These older players have been there, the likes of, Brendan Murphy, Ed Finnegan, Barry John Molloy, Robbie Molloy, Jeffrey O’Donoghue.

“Some of them have played in about seven, eight or nine county finals and they were able to pass on to the younger fellas just what it means” he said.

Every ounce of that experience was required for the 2024 Championship as Rathvilly were drawn in an extremely tough group.

Edged out by Palatine in their opening pool match, they bounced back to see off Clonmore before battling out a draw with Éire Óg.

In the quarter-final, Byrne and Smith’s boys ran out emphatic 4-22 to 1-6 winners over Bagenalstown Gaels before being forced to negotiate the much tougher challenge of Old Leighlin in the semi-finals that was made all the more difficult by the loss of Padhraig Bolger to a straight red card just five minutes into proceedings.

Yet the team demonstrated great resolve to hang on for a two-point triumph that set up another encounter with Palatine in the 2024 decider.

In an enthralling clash, Rathvilly appeared to be on the brink of falling just short in the final after their opponents carved out a two-point lead late on, only for Eric Molloy and Liam Gavin to split the posts in injury time to salvage a 1-10 to 2-7 draw, subsequently forcing a replay.

And in what was their third encounter of the campaign, Rathvilly, this time, emerged victorious, Kevin Murphy serving up 2-6 as they ran out 2-10 to 0-11 winners.

For the older heads on the team, that victory validated their decision to remain on for another year and also proved to the younger players like Liam Gavin, Adam Burgess and Brandon Kelly that they have what it takes to succeed in the top ranks of Carlow football.

Byrne will now be hoping that that combination of youth and experience can see Rathvilly finally make a significant impact on the provincial scene when the team lines out in the last eight of the Leinster Club Championship on Sunday.

Certainly, he believes his side can give a better account of themselves than when they last contested Leinster in 2021 - a quick turnaround after their county title win proving too much then, as they suffered a 14-point reversal at the hands of Louth outfit, Naomh Mairtin.

“It could be 20 odd years since we last won a game in Leinster, and we’ve picked up four or five championships in that time” Byrne pointed out.

“We’ve always been competitive, but we’ve never really targeted a Leinster in the main. It’s always win a championship, celebrate and we’d maybe take our eye off the ball.

“In 2021, we had maybe six out with Covid and then you add in injuries, so we were decimated going up to Louth.

“This year’s a bit different, we’ve had a long break, we’ve celebrated.

“I know the draw has been favourable to the teams on our side. There are probably six or seven teams on our side who would probably fancy themselves getting to a Leinster Final with the so-called ‘big-guns’ of the Dublin champions, the Laois and Kildare champions all being on one side of the draw.

“A lot of the other teams would be thinking it perhaps wouldn’t take a miracle for us to end up in a Leinster Final and we’re probably in that group too” he suggested.

Again, for Byrne, experience could be a telling factor in determining how well they will go in the province as he pointed out “At this time of the year, the pace of the younger fellas is probably a bit nullified with the soft conditions. The older fellas will definitely find some game time.

“Against better teams, you’re not going to have it your own way and there are going to be times when you’re going to be under pressure and you need your older fellas to really dig in and keep you in the game.

“I think now we have the quality to do something in Leinster, but we’ll just take each hurdle as it comes and, hopefully, we can give it a good rattle” he said.