13th place finish for Carlow at Galway Cup
The Carlow team that competed at the Galway Cup
Carlow competed in the 2011 Elite section of the Galway Cup last week and although they endured a few bumps along the way, finished the week in style.
It was the north Leinster side that got the better of the southeast opponents in the opening group game by two goals.
The Louth side got the better of the early stages in this group game with two early goals from Harry and Tadhg Rogers.
Carlow did battle back into the contest as the game went on and managed to narrow the gap when Reece Walker found the back of the net. The game finished as a contest when Luciano Ngene added a third to the Dundalk tally.
It wasn't to be for this young Carlow side as their Munster opponents by the narrowest of margins.
After a tough opening game Carlow produced some lovely football in their second game. They created a number of chances either side of half time but couldn't break down a tough Clare defensive effort. Clare eventually managed to use the elements to help them win the tie with a solitary effort from Seadna Ryan.
This result definitely did not reflect the play that Carlow produced throughout the game.
In their third group game Carlow battled hard from start to finish but three/ four goals in either half saw their west Limerick opponents come out on top.
With the Salthill wind causing havoc it was Carlow who managed to narrowly defeat their west Cork opposition.
Carlow started this game with a goal inside two minutes when Bill Roberts found the back of the net. After this great early start Carlow kept the pressure on, and Roberts duly doubled his sides lead midway through the first half. They went in well on top at the break.
When the game restarted Cork managed to gain control of possession and eventually narrowed the gap with a strike from Vittor Couthinho. This was the only goal of the second half as Carlow defended stoutly for the rest of the half to gain a well-earned victory.
In their final game of the tournament in Galway Carlow showed some great character to finish 13th place in the competition.
Carlow were starting to find their scoring form in Galway as they attacked from the opening whistle and eventually opened their account when Glen Cantwell rose high to head in from a corner. It looked like the side in red were in full control but against the run of play Limerick’s Tom O’ Mahony fired in an outrageous free kick from range. That was the end of the scoring as Carlow gained control again with two more goals in the first half. The first came from Temiloluwa Adetoro and another for Roberts for the tournament.
The second half was all the side from the southeast as they added three more goals as Frankie Doyle netted a hat trick.
This was a well-deserved result for this side and proved that they could have finished higher with a bit of luck.
After the final game, manager Bobby Doyle gave his thoughts on the week in competition.
"Throughout the tournament we were unfortunate in a couple of the early games," he said, but he praised his young side for the manner in which they recovered after a heavy defeat.
"They have shown some character to win in the final two games and winning emphatically in the last game shows that this side is very strong and could go places."
Darragh Maher, Jayden Jackson, Liam Brennan, Glen Cantwell, Temiloluwa Adetoro, Mael O’Rock, Frankie Doyle, Noah Doyle, Tiresimi Adeleye, Bill Roberts, Reece Walker, Ross Geoghegan, Nathan Young, James Broughan, Aidan Fitzharris, Cian Hutton, Conor Ryan, Patrick Cranny, Adam Rowan, Fionn C Brennan.
