O’Ruairc knows early start is key as Ladies Footballers go in search of Leinster glory

Carlow staged a miraculous comeback in Fenagh on Saturday to beat Longford, despite trailing by six points at one point, a victory which sees them into a Leinster Junior Championship final against Louth this Sunday. A late Megan Townsend goal inspired the comeback for Carlow, as she came off the bench. In fact, it was the Carlow bench that made the difference yet again, as they mounted a late comeback against Louth the previous week too, falling just short. 

That win against Longford, on top of a win earlier in the campaign against Kilkenny sees Carlow into a Leinster final against Louth on Sunday, an opponent they know all too well. Louth beat them only a couple of weeks ago in the league and they were also victorious 12 months ago when the two sides met in the Leinster final, as they defeated Carlow 2-10 to 1-5, so Carlow know that they have a tough challenge ahead.

Speaking after their late win over Longford, Carlow manager, Brian O’Ruairc cut a relieved man, although slightly frustrated too given the way that they were slow to start. He said that getting to a Leinster final is all that matters, no matter how they did it. 

“That’s [winning] really all that matters on a semi-final day, that’s what we told the girls before the game, that the only thing that mattered was that we were in a Leinster final next weekend and there’s a lot to work on, and that’s ok, but we’re in a final next weekend, can’t ask for more. I’m channeling my inner Ruben Amorim, we’re in a final, that was our next goal and we’ve achieved that. We were probably unlucky in the end last week [against Louth], just like today we didn’t start well but had a great second half. We just have to figure out how to start the first half haha.”

He credited the impact of the bench as crucial in getting over the line. 

“We made a couple of tweaks at half-time, Edel [Hayden] did very well when she came in. That’s one thing we really wanted to develop this season was that we had players that can come off the bench and make an impact. I don’t know the figures but I think Megan [Townsend] got 1-1 or 1-2, Katie [Tunstead] did excellent on a very good player, Edel made a difference and Maeve won the frees at the end, so impact off the bench is super. I’m so pleased and proud of the girls. It's been a really difficult year where results haven’t gone our way, tight games haven’t gone our way, but the desire, the fight they showed today is really positive going forward.” 

It’s been a tough year for Carlow so far under the new management. They were relegated from Division 3 of the National Football League, in their opening Leinster match against Kilkenny, they won but hardly set the world alight, hitting 13 wides in a 2-15/0-2 win, in fact that was the smallest margin of victory over Kilkenny of any team in Leinster this season, against Louth, they struggled but showed fight late on and against Longford, they only just got over the line. They have shown flashes of brilliance though, the young guns have led the way off the bench. O’Ruairc is hopeful that those bad memories will be erased with a big Leinster final win this Sunday but doesn’t feel like it’s been a wasted campaign as they look ahead to the future. 

“I certainly hope so. We always knew this year’s league campaign was going to be difficult. Anytime we go up it’s really really hard to stay up. Realistically we were only one result against Limerick from achieving that, so I suppose that was the disappointment. We learned a heck of a lot during the league. There’s players there that haven’t played a lot of football at this level before that have made a real impact. I don’t think Katie [Tunstead] had started a game for Carlow before but you saw the impact she had today, carrying a knock, you saw the impact she had there in the second half. So we made the most of our league campaign and we still have goals to achieve.” 

He knows the achievement in getting to a Leinster final, even if the path hasn’t been as smooth and is hopeful of a big crowd to roar on the Carlow girls. “Oh massive, the final is in Mullingar next Sunday at 2pm, so it would be great to get a good support down. The girls deserve it, as I said it’s been a tough year to date but they showed in that second half the fight that I know they have and the quality we know they have and it means a lot.” 

There are a few knocks and injuries in the camp. Aibha Kiernan, who will compete in not just one Leinster final this weekend, but two, as she plays for the Camogie team against Laois at Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday, didn’t tog out, Katie Tunstead was carrying a knock, whilst Edel Hayden had to be substituted off midway through the second half, having only come on at half-time. O’Ruairc is adamant that there won’t be too many issues regarding availability to play on Sunday, citing that a Leinster final will be enough to get everyone available. 

“I suspect it’s easy to put the word final in a message during the week and bodies will be fine. We’ll do the best we can, we’ll prepare. We obviously played Louth last weekend and we’re very happy to have another go at them next weekend. I’m sure they’ll go in as very heavy favourites and that’s understandable but we’ll focus on ourselves and give a good account of ourselves.” 

He added that keeping mistakes to a minimum is crucial. 

“I think just minimising our mistakes [is going to be key], and really just focusing on our own game. A bit like Longford, Louth are a very good side in transition, if you give them opportunities to transition on you, that’s where they’re dangerous. So it will be a case of focusing on ourselves. Probably from today we’ll work on our hand passing a little bit, and we’ll be ready to go. We probably gifted them a couple of early goals last week but we struck back today. I thought Nicole [Hanley] had a cracking game in goal, three or four point blank saves probably kept us in it at times. That’s obviously still something we need to work on.”

Carlow vs Louth

Leinster LGFA TG4 Junior Championship 

2pm, Cusack Park, Westmeath