What next for Carlow hurling?

The late Laois equalising goal in the final round of the Joe McDonagh Cup group stage that denied Carlow a place in the Croke Park decider could have long standing ramifications for Carlow hurling. KIERAN MURPHY looks at what it could mean in the short and long term future.

It was a dagger into the heart of Carlow hurling. When James Duggan got on the end of Padraig Delaney’s wonderfully delivered 65 to deflect the ball over the line for the equalising goal it was a sickening moment for all Carlow hurling followers.

Never mind that the 65 should never have been awarded at Netwatch Cullen Park in Carlow fifth and last Joe McDonagh cup tie of the campaign. Video evidence has since backed up the Carlow players claims that the ball went out off the foot of a Laois player.

Never mind that the referee had signalled three minutes of injury time but didn’t blow the full-time whistle when Laois won a side-line ball on the half-way line in the 74th minute.

Never mind that some Carlow players claimed one of the Laois points given had actually gone two feet wide of the posts. This may all sound like sour grapes and possibly it is but even a week after the event, the memory of what might have been still hurts. A place in the Joe McDonagh Cup final in Croke Park was cruelly denied.

For older Carlow GAA followers the disappointment and the pain in the gut almost matches the same feelings when Joe Hayden’s goal was disallowed in the 1993 senior football All-Ireland club final replay in Limerick. That would have been an immortal day for Carlow GAA but, helped by a disallowed goal, Cork champions, O’Donovan Rossa, prevailed by two points.

Just to recall, Éire Óg were losing by two points when Hayden floated in a 25-metre free. Bodies mingled as the perfectly delivered free dipped under the crossbar and into the net.

After a long consultation with his umpires, referee, Jim Curran of Cavan, disallowed the goal. O’Donovan Rossa saw out the time to break Carlow hearts. It was a long, long journey back to Carlow through, Nenagh, Roscrea, Mountrath and Portlaoise that evening. There was no motorway in those days to speed up the journey.

While it might seem a little bit disingenuous to compare the two games, the Carlow draw with Laois does have parallels to 1993.

The fine lines between achieving your goals and just coming up short. The effect marginal calls by match officials can have on the outcome of entire competitions. A feeling of being cheated. The sheer helplessness as players and the management team felt as they left the pitch.

There is one fear lingering. While Éire Óg would go on and win four more Leinster titles and get back into another All-Ireland club final, Carlow hurling is at a cross-roads. Under managers, Colm Bonnar and Tom Mullally, the players have achieved as much as they possibly could including two Joe McDonagh Cups, a Christy Ring Cup and a number of league titles. This year Carlow held on to their place in the National Hurling 1B competition for next year while Laois were relegated. The worry now is that while many of the current senior group are still quite young, they have been around a long time and may want to enjoy another life outside intercounty hurling. There are always distractions away from the hurling field, their studies and their work.

Diarmuid Byrne and Jack Kavanagh are two players who moved away from the panel and after they took a step away from intercounty fare they were all but irreplaceable. One can only imagine what life would be like in Carlow hurling should Marty Kavanagh, James Doyle, Dion Wall and Paul Doyle decide that they have done enough and that life must go on without having to give such a huge commitment. Club hurling gives players that bit of scope to enjoy competitive hurling but not having to allow the game to consume them as intercounty fare does.

Unlike Laois, who introduced four substitutes with two of them getting on the score-sheet, Carlow only used Conor Kehoe and Ted Joyce. Neither of them made an impact. Manager, Tom Mullally, obviously felt there was no-one else on the bench who was going to improve the situation on the field. That is worrying.

As for Mullally, he owes nothing more to Carlow hurling. He led Mount Leinster Rangers to an All-Ireland title in the late 2000s. It was going to be hard to follow in Colm Bonnar’s footsteps but he did so successfully. He is now facing the situation all managers face. Is it time to go? What would be bring that would be new to the team next year if he stays? As for the job of manager, does he need a fresh challenge to motivate and improve himself as a motivator and develop new players who would be under him?

Three are sure to be changes on the Carlow senior hurling panel next year? Any manager , whether it is Mullally or not, will have to look at what is coming up behind. It doesn’t look great. Carlow lost both their under 20 hurling championship matches to Kerry and Kildare. It might be a bit unfair to suggest that the calibre of player on the panel is not ready for senior hurling yet but that is the reality.

The minors look better equipped to feed players into the senior set-up but it is a bit early yet. These young men defied expectations and got out of their group in Leinster this year. Highlight of their season was a superb win up in Newbridge where they beat Kildare by ten points.

At this age, it is unfair to single out players who have the potential to go on to perform at senior level. Yet, all around the field against Kildare, a huge number of players performed and better again, showed leadership qualities. It might be a bit early to say but this could be where the next big wave of senior players is going to come from.

That team may not be quite match the Carlow minor team which last got to a Leinster minor final (2006). Household names who came out of that pack include Denis Murphy, Paudie Kehoe, Jack Kavanagh and Richie Coady. Dwain Kavanagh and Kevin Kehoe were also in that team.

It is a bit early to be expecting this year’s minor team to match what these players went on to achieve but that is where the future has to be for Carlow hurling. After the last number of ultra-successful years, maybe it is self-defeating to suggest that it might be difficult to match what has just gone by. Yet the truth has to be faced if Carlow hurling is to have a soft-landing before it takes off again.