Garvey delighted with Carlow’s upward mobility

LEINSTER SHC (Preliminary Round): Carlow v Laois (Portlaoise, 7pm)

When you’ve striven for the seemingly impossible, and then achieved it, what next? Where do you go from here? Let’s address that question a little later though. Because to put such issues into context, one must first look at the distance already travelled; the extent of the achievement that is the work of many more people than manager, Kevin Ryan and his current panel of players.

Although recent results wouldn’t support the view, Carlow is in fact a football county, with the ratio of clubs in the region of 3:1 in the big ball’s favour.

Just to survive, the hurling clubs must work diligently, but now, they are doing much more than surviving.

At senior level, they hit rock bottom in 2004 when losing to Mayo in the league at a time when the westerners were at a pretty low ebb themselves. Coming just after the concession of nine goals to Kerry, it was too much for the manager at the time, former All-Ireland winning Kilkenny goalkeeper, Michael Walsh, and he resigned.

Eoin Garvey had been in the county 10 years by that stage, having arrived in Bagenalstown as a fresh-faced 21-year-old to take up a teaching position. A native of Inagh in Clare, he had immersed himself in hurling as soon as he touched down. He was asked to step into the breach.

The situation didn’t improve dramatically and indeed when Carlow crossed swords with Mayo once again in the All-Ireland B championship, the outcome was the same and Garvey had to tog out to make a 16th man, in case a sub was needed.

Since then, the graph has climbed steadily. Garvey got the job permanently in 2005 and they reached the Christy Ring Cup semi-final. They got to the final the following year, but Antrim were too strong.

In 2007, Westmeath accounted for them in a dramatic semi-final. Carlow conceded three goals in four minutes of first-half injury time but had still dragged themselves back into the game with time running out. Then they had a man sent off and from the resultant free, the Lakesiders snatched a soft goal to progress.

Garvey stood down after that and former Waterford All-Star, Jim Greene took over. Promotion to Division Two was achieved before revenge was served on Westmeath in the Christy Ring Cup final, courtesy of a goal in the dying seconds of extra time.

Greene didn’t last though, resigning after a row with the county board over the team’s preparation. His Mount Sion clubmate, Kevin Ryan, was appointed, having enjoyed tremendous success as manager of Wexford kingpins, Oulart-The-Ballagh.

Division Two status was retained and so was the Christy Ring Cup. It took some time for their place in the senior championship to be confirmed but thanks to the DRA, it happened eventually.

And they have raised the bar even higher. They shocked Wexford, who eventually won the Division Two final, and proved that this result was no flash-in-the-pan by pushing Clare to a point.

So clearly, standards of preparation and dedication have improved at senior level. But most importantly, so has the standard of player available.

And that goes back to the work at underage level, with both club and county. The establishment of Club Ceatharlach in 2002 was a significant development, with the likes of PJ Fox leading the way. A development squad structure, it was re-branded as Ceatharlach Óg this year. Then you have Leinster Council coaches like Brendan Hayden providing expertise.

“Everyone is doing that now but it would surprise people who might have an outside view of the county that Carlow was way ahead of its time when they were doing it” says Garvey.

The upshot of all that is a production line of quality players. In 2002, when Garvey was in charge, Carlow minors drew with Dublin in the round-robin phase of the Leinster championship. They lost to the same opposition in a replayed play-off by a point. That Dublin team almost defeated subsequent All-Ireland champions Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final, despite a sending-off.

That year, they won the 2002 All-Ireland B title, the start of an unprecedented four-in-a-row. Mark Brennan, Des Shaw and Shane Kavanagh were all on that team. Four years ago, they decided to commit entirely to the A division and after beating Wexford, Offaly and Laois they reached a Leinster final.

The progression has continued. The following year they only lost by a last minute goal to Wexford and subsequently blew a nine-point lead against Laois. On Saturday, they only lost by two late points to Dublin.

“There is a marked improvement in the standard of hurler coming through now because of Club Ceatharlach and the work of a lot of people around the clubs” Garvey explains.

“It’s a tiny hurling county but there’s a great sense of community. For example, when Mount Leinster Rangers won the county championship, they got tremendous support from the rest of the hurling clubs in the Leinster championship. That wasn’t always the case but it is now.

“There are a few counties considered in the same pool as Carlow; Meath, Wicklow, Kildare and Westmeath for example. Carlow have passed them out and have now become the model for them, even though they have a much smaller population. On a pound-for-pound analysis, Carlow are punching above their weight. You reap what you sow.”

So how far can they go?

“That’s a very tough question” Garvey admits. “Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Wicklow have more resources. So Carlow have to keep at the top of the game in terms of the work going in at underage level.

“They’ve been playing Clare and Wexford, they’ll have Limerick next year and they’re going into those games thinking that they can win. If that mindset can be transferred to the players coming through, who knows? That’s the challenge.”