Late starter Lyons making up for lost time

John Lyons was a late starter to rugby. He only got interested when he was 16 but he was in good company. On that team was Tom Daly who would go on to represent his country at underage level. Also in the squad were Eoin Stynes, Ronan and Barra Farrell and Mossy Whitney. All hugely talented players.

Carlow lost three under 17 finals, the South East League, the Leinster league and the Leinster cup.

“It was a roller-coaster of a first year but I fell in love with it and have been playing since,” says John.

Having assumed the role of vice-captain last season, the 31-year old was honoured to captain the club this year.

Getting to a cup final is special and he has no doubt what it means to Carlow rugby.

“Especially some of the older lads. For the league, they would pass you in the street but as soon as the Towns Cup starts, they would be stopping you, chatting to you and asking how the team is going. There is a generation up here where the Towns Cup is the be-all and end-all,” he says.

This year’s Leinster League Division 1A was a bitter-sweet experience. After their opening four games, they had only accumulated two miserable bonus points. They finished the league with 29 pts and were relegated. The poor return from the early season matches had put huge pressure on later in the season.

“Especially the first four games we had no wins on the board but we had been unlucky not to have two wins and a couple of bonus points. We were not getting the rub of the green. A good start would have made all the difference. We didn’t get that but we dug in. Coming up to Christmas and afterwards we got a couple of important wins."

It came down to the last game of the league. Tullow beat them to the punch. Inconsistency had haunted Carlow.

“That play-off summed up our season. A bad start. We gave Wexford a couple of easy tries. We clawed it back, got our noses in front but in fairness to Wexford, they got a chance to win it and they took it. It was tough on us that day.” The Provincial Towns Cup has been Carlow’s saviour. They won away to Boyne. Then came Wexford in the play-off. Disaster.

“We had a week to turn it around against Wicklow but it was nice to have a Towns Cup semi-final after the Wexford game. Carlow beat Wicklow 10-9.

“That game could have gone either way. We were lucky. We haven’t come out of the right side in those games in the last couple of years but we did that time.” There is a buzz in the Oak Park club now.

“Everyone is excited. This week, we had training on Wednesday. There were 30 lads up. Lads pushing for places in the squad. Lads who won’t play and are helping us,” says Lyons.

The five Towns Cup wins in the 90s will never be forgotten in Carlow.

“The All Ireland League venture started with the Towns Cup. It is a massive part of the history of the club. The Gordons, the Edghills, the Copes. There is a huge connection to that era,” says Lyons who says the current group of players have come to this final together.

“If you go back through the team sheets over the last 5-6 years, you have a lot of the same names there. It is not that we have had a huge turnover. Lads coming back, lads coming through the underage but it is the same core, the same spine in the team. I have been there 13 years. Wes Shirley-14 years. Larry McGrath must have close on 20. There is a good continuity there. There is a bond.”