Don’t get carried away, Carlow boss tells fans
That’s the message from senior hurling manager Kevin Ryan to the Carlow supporters this week, as his team prepares to take on Antrim in Belfast in the next round of the All-Ireland qualifiers.
“There’s fantastic enthusiasm for hurling in this county, and it’s growing all the time,” said the former Mount Sion star.
“You look at Dublin beating Wexford in the Leinster minor semi-final, and yet Carlow were leading Dublin into the last minute. In the U21s we gave Wexford a 16-point lead and still brought it back to four – left ourselves a bit too much to do, left it too late to start hurling.
“Then there was the win over Laois in the preliminary round All-Ireland qualifiers last week, after losing to them already in the league and in the Leinster championship (six points deficit each time) – we were up for that match.
“At half-time in the Leinster championship loss in Portlaoise a few weeks ago we felt we had a great grip on the game after playing against a gale, but the boys dropped the intensity, Laois put on a burst, went five or six points ahead, and that was it.
“But we always threatened. I know Laois were seen as a step above us but we didn’t see it as being that big a step, we knew there was always the chance that on a good day we’d beat them. There’s no doubt about it, there’s great potential here; Carlow could become a serious hurling county if they can maintain this progress.
“But we need to be realistic also in our expectations, and not be putting unnecessary pressure on players. When they beat Laois in the U21 there was talk of winning Leinster, but people would need to sit back and see where Carlow is coming from. It was only three years ago that Carlow were a Division 3 team, getting hammered in the Christy Ring Cup, so they’ve come a long way already.
“We’re going in the right direction, but we shouldn’t expect too much too soon.”
Their reward for that win over Laois is a visit to high-flying Antrim this Saturday in Casement Park, where the home team had a huge Ulster final win over Down only last weekend.
Winnable, but another huge challenge. “Antrim are going well, were unlucky against Offaly in the Leinster championship, and having to go up there doesn’t make it easier. But at this stage, we can just have a shot off it.
“Antrim will be tough for us, we know that, but we’ll approach it as just another game, have a cut off it.”
Youthful exuberance, that’s the secret, a host of U21s on this senior side making all the difference against Laois, not least full-forward Denis Murphy, who finished with 1-4, including a superb point while under extreme pressure to nail the win in injury-time.
“Yeah, and the same young fella got two great points off the stick against Wexford in the U21 game. He has it, though he’s an injury worry for Saturday. There’s real talent in the county, two or.
“There’s only seven senior clubs in the county but they’re playing Kilkenny league, wouldn’t be a mile away from other teams. Hopefully now, after this, the minors and U21s will come through and strengthen the panel.”
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