O’Dwyer’s delight as champions avoid banana skin

SQUEAKY bum time in Carlow for Laois folk yesterday but Mick O’Dwyer still preferred to focus on the positives from the game and not the first 65 minutes of anxious nail-biting.

With two minutes plus injury time still to be played, Laois were within one kick of being stripped unceremoniously of their Leinster title, until their late rally pulled them clear.

“We finished well, which was the most important thing,” said the Laois boss. “In the last five minutes we played the type of game that we normally play. We were a bit rusty because we hadn’t really played since Wexford in the league. We had a few challenge games but they’re no use. The championship - that’s what you need.”

Of most concern to O’Dwyer this morning will be forward Brian McDonald who shipped a heavy hit towards the interval. The end result concussion, and some severe facial bruising.

Still and all, the job was done. No one from Laois expected it to be easy and so it proved. But the crown remains intact.

“Carlow are a good side. They’ve had great club footballers over the last 10 years and the footballers were there,” said O’Dwyer. “They got them together this year for the first time and they’ll make it hot for any team in the play-offs.”

Had Laois succumbed to their rivals yesterday, referee Michael Ryan would have been centre of a storm of controversy this morning. All afternoon the Limerick official confounded with his decisions, none more so than when he disallowed Chris Conway’s goal seconds before the interval for a dubious square ball infringement.

“How is a referee standing in the middle of the field to judge whether it was in the square? Surely to God, there was two umpires there and one of them was going for the flag,” O’Dwyer said.

Ryan wouldn’t have found too much solace in the Carlow camp either. Team advisor Luke Dempsey was scathing in his views.

“We have a midfielder in there with a suspected fractured rib after a shoulder in the chest when no free was awarded,” Dempsey said. “how could the referee not see the shoulder into the chest of Thomas Walsh?

“In the last few minutes, crucial, simple frees were given to the opposition. Was he making up for the fact that there was a disallowed goal at the end of the first-half? I’m very disappointed with the standard of refereeing in general.”

Carlow did themselves proud but Dempsey wasn’t sure that some in the public spotlight would see it that way after their win over Longford in the championship last month. “What weaker counties are asking for is that their performances be given the credit where it is due and criticism where it is due,” he said. “Not the awfulness we’ve seen towards Carlow football from the likes of the Sunday Game.

“All we want is some credit.”

Few among the crowd of 17,500 in Dr Cullen Park yesterday would begrudge them that.