Last week I wrote about the remarkable record and tradition that Éire Óg have established in both the Carlow championship and at Leinster and All Ireland level. Well on Sunday last, they began yet another club championship campaign in familiar fashion. An opening round win against Wicklow’s Kiltegan was the first step on what will hopefully be a long road. While the final victory margin was only four points, in truth it was a much more comfortable victory than this might suggest. A very strong first quarter set the foundation for this victory with one of Éire Óg's bigger names to the fore in this period. Simon Rae was back to his sparkling best in this opening quarter and was heavily involved in the opening up of a 1-4 to no score lead in the opening quarter. Indeed when Mark Kelly got the vital touch to a speculative Ber Hennessy ball for the first of his two goals, it looked ominous for the Wicklow champions. To their credit however, they fought their way back into the game and they scored the next four points to leave just a goal separating the sides. Éire Óg weathered this storm well with a pivotal moment being a great save by Michael Hennessy which prevented the Wicklow men drawing level. From this point, the Carlow champions demonstrated their ruthlessness and big game know-how by engineering the second goal of the game in first half injury time when Mark Kelly doubled his own goal tally for the day by finishing a full length move to the corner of the net. This gave them the cushion they needed and despite Kiltegan's best efforts, the margin never dipped below four points. Rae was again influential in the second half, scoring two fine points himself and setting Eric McCormick up for his side’s ultimately decisive, third goal. This was a good performance from the Carlow champions given that they had only won their own championship the previous Sunday. It's never easy to begin another campaign so soon after winning your own championship, but if there is one club capable of doing it it's Éire Óg.
The long-running saga surrounding the identity of the next senior county football manager came to a close last weekend with the appointment of Luke Dempsey for his second stint in charge. This time hopefully he will remain in the position for a little longer than his previous time in charge, which was as an interim manager for a period of four months. During that time he presided over a very good victory over Longford who ironically he later went on to manage. Followers will hope that his appointment will bring a much needed period of stability to the football squad. This is something that has been sorely missed over the past few years and none could argue that results haven't suffered as a consequence. Hopefully, as is the case when any new, relatively high profile manager takes over, enthusiasm will be generated among followers but more importantly players. The best footballers in Carlow must make themselves available to the new manager to ensure optimum success.
While the football situation in the county seems a little more stable at this stage, all of a sudden the hurlers plans for '09 have been thrown into disarray following the resignation of Jim Greene and his entire management team. This comes following a disagreement over the timing of the squad's return to collective training. Croke Park rules now state that no collective training or indeed challenge matches take place in the months of November and December. The County board are sticking to this dictum not wishing to lose out on central funding if the “ban” is ignored. Greene is adamant that his squad needs to be training from November onwards if it is to be properly prepared for the challenge that division two of the newly structured hurling league will bring. (Provisionally, the opening fixture is away to Offaly ) The situation has been further complicated by the timing of the team holiday which will take place in early January. This will also, in Greene's opinion, negatively impact on preparation by effectively docking another another two weeks off the training period. He feels aggrieved that he was not consulted on this issue. This being the case, there is an obvious difference of opinion. Greene feels he cannot take charge of a team that in his own words will be ill-prepared for the new season. When you look at the situation, there are merits on both sides of the argument. A break for the players may be beneficial. The bulk of the squad is made up of players from the Naomh Bríd and Mount Leinster clubs and these players have had a long, almost uninterrupted season of activity. Maybe a break would do them good. On the other hand, given the quality of opposition that they will face in the league, they need to hit the ground running in the opening rounds. Will the squad have enough done if they only go back into serious training in mid January? Will the other teams stick to the “off season” ban on collective training?
Whatever the outcome the present situation has already put preparations on the back foot. Is there a compromise? Is there a way back for Greene and his team? Does the county board want them back? And in my opinion this is the pertinent question. If Greene is gone where will another suitable manager be found at this late stage? All these questions need to be answered soon if '09 is to be a success.
