Perseverance pays off for Dempsey

WHEN Luke Dempsey took over the county of his youth he thought he could offer something new. Raised in Milford, educated in Carlow CBS, he managed the county for six weeks in 2004. It was a call he couldn’t turn down.

But he never realised the task that lay ahead. In his first year they drew Donegal in Ballybofey in the qualifiers. By that stage he had just 20 players to call from. They were the only ones willing to play. The rest left, disinterested with the demands of senior football.

It was a crazy first 12 months but he had hoped 2010 would be different. He took over the U21s and searched for new talent.

In five games his side finished with just 13 players and they went on to have the worst disciplinary record in the country. More players dropped out and a humiliating 3-13 to 0-12 loss to Wicklow left Dempsey disillusioned.

But he said he’d give it one more year. He didn’t want to leave Carlow as a failure. Fourteen players left but he had expected it.

“I didn’t have to drop one player from the panel and still we had just 26 players to pick from,” he said.

“It’s years of not achieving anything and it permeates right down to underage. There needs to be success in some way for that feeling to go. A particular group stuck by it and they believed there would be light at the end of the tunnel.”

Almost half his original panel had stopped returning calls by the time they faced Louth. A victory against the odds in Dr Cullen Park sparked scenes usually reserved for provincial or All-Ireland successes.

A Leinster quarter-final win resulted in a pitch invasion and mass celebrations. But then again it’s 1958 since Carlow last reached a Leinster semi-final.

“The success against Louth, and hopefully a continuation of it, is a turning point in Carlow football. That’s what I meant, but it was a bit of an exaggeration, to say a volcano had erupted in Carlow,” he laughed.

“This year I’ve lost about 14 players you’d want from the start of the year. They were guys who had started matches for us in the league.”

Wexford is pure bonus territory and while Dempsey would love a victory, he’d be satisfied if they gave it their all.

“We’ve given them no reasons to tighten up. I’d expect you’ll get the best out of them on Sunday and whatever the best is, time will tell because you don’t know. Wexford are flying and they’re a long time on the go under Jason Ryan. There’s no reason why our lads will be held up. I hope they go out and enjoy it.”

Palatine full-back Conor Lawlor is a doubt though. He picked up a shoulder AC injury and hasn’t trained properly since the Louth game. Naively Lawlor didn’t tell the management and aggravated it in a hurling championship game.

But Dempsey doesn’t get angry with these things anymore. It’s part of Carlow’s education process and he’s willing to help them along. Before he can expand on it though his phone rings.

It’s Éire Óg’s Sean Gannon so he takes it. Maybe there’s something wrong. Bursts of laughter break out. Sean and his teammates thought Luke had been talking too long.

He laughs. The Carlow experience is a learning process for him too.