I was at the Clare game on Sunday - I live in England so get over very seldom to games

Just a few points to share

1. Value for Money

I go regularly to Sale Sharks , Man utd , Man city and pay anywhere form £30 - £50- you get the odd great game but also some woeful fare
I have'nt been in DCP for years - Its a nice tidy ground, good playing surface , good facilities and 10 Euro admission.

It was a great afternoons entertainment and although the crowd was small ( circa 1000) they were vociferous and got behind Carlow from begining to end .

It was also good to have a chat with Clare supporters ( that would,nt happen with the away fans in Old Trafford)


2. The Team
The bottom line is the Carlow team played great hurling and the commitment was massive. They never let Clare settle and really the only overall weakness would be a lack of a really potent full forward line

The half backs are outstanding

3. Support

I am from Carlow so I am aware of the apathy of the town in particular to supporting the County in Hurling

We have a Hurling team now that can compete and play strictly as a team - there was not a dirty foul in the game - but there was no quarter given or asked


Carlow people need to go to DCP and experience the value for money these boys give -

I just listened to the same old nonsense. People need to give this great entertainment a chance

10 Euro is great value - I know - I was there and I have already book my flight for the Laois game in May ( happy yo pay championship prices)

Well said Blackbog.

I also travel from England several times a year for matches. Carlow is not my county but I think it is fair to say that all hurling enthusiasts are wishing the Carlow Hurlers well. It is 30 years since Offaly made their breakthrough and it is high time another county followed them.

Lets hope that "Skin" can lead you to the promised land and well done to the players who are showing the commitment to succeed.

As for the rip-off that is professional sport, the way the Irish media fawns over average soccer and rugger players defies belief. Many of the so-called experts in the TV analysis panels were journeymen whose achievements were moderate to say the least.

The standard of Irish sports journalism is very poor. The Hacks seem more concerned about making famous friends and hanging out than telling it the way it really is.

In England, paying £40/50/60/70stg to watch average fare is the going premiership rate. Although suckers still pay it, the clubs are starting to worry about attendances!

The media boys tell them it is high quality stuff, but they have a vested interest in doing this. If it was exposed for the rubbish that alot of it is then they would be out of a job!

Supporting your county in hurling or football is extremely good value for money in comparison to professional soccer. As the film title says, "Support your local gunslinger"........er I mean hurling team. These lads are making the effort.

Well said Blackbog and Patrick!

I too have been to a few of the premiership stadia to watch their fare and it pales whrn compared to the value and effort that the GAA players show regularly.

Yes, it would be great to se Carlow really compete with the big boys and huge wotk is being put in by the players. Well done to them.

Also at the game on Sunday and the support was bigger than at a Carlow football game for the past few years.

Yes,well said indeed lads.Couldnt agree more.These people who go over to England to pay that crazy kind of money to watch there soccer teams then will complain that 10e is to much to watch there county play,but thats just it, its THERE COUNTY(They love to jump on the bandwagon come May though).They def do give there value for money and you cant beat the feeling walking out of DCP (or any other ground)when they have won or at least put up a credible performance against the odds.Carlow GAA for life!!

Any progress since then lads??

Progress is hard to define when one talks about Carlow hurling.... yes I think that progress has been made especially at senior level. The same players by and large are there with a few retirements robbing the panel of valuable strenght and experience. I think the panel is more battle ahrdened and more confident in believeing they can achieve good results. I think that consolidation of theri posiiton will be the aimand can be achieved.

The lack of competitive games for the under age groups is a difficulty as when these same playerd do reach senior level they have not had ideal preparation for the level of play they will then face. But taking all things into consideration things are good. MLR playing and winning in Croke Park was a great boost.

Are the MLR lads involved for the 1st NHL game on Sunday. With them we should win, without them i'd be worried. Need to win this one, and set us up for what should be a straight shoot out for promotion with Westmeath.

All rangers lads back last nite.Match against wexford which carlow won by 2 points.Match was in naomh eoin.9 rangers lads back including frank foley who is out of retirement to help them out over the league only as kevin kehoe is out injured for the year.

It thats true about the Rangers boys...Fair play to them! they only finished up with their club last week after winning an all ireland and to go straight back into county training without a break is incredible. Serious commitment and they deserve all the praise they get

Thats great committment from the rangers lads to get back so quickly.

Hope the hurlers can get promoted this year but its going to be tough with Westmeath and Kerry the main rivals

Best of Luck Sunday against Down lads,they beat us up in Ballycran in this game last year so need to start off with the two points on Sunday.

Great to hear that the Rangers lads are back in strength. Great also to hear Frank -of the booming puck out- is returning. No game will be easy, but nice to start with Down at home and would be a great start with a win. Best wishes to all involved.

Anyone know what kind of team Wexford had out in that challenge match?

Strong anti-Westmeath tone coming from Kevin Ryan. He might be better off worrying about Down instead of throwing insults at the lake county.

true enough, no idea why hes talking about Westmeath already. Tough start against a Down side who beat us last year. And according to papers he is going to start without the MLR boys. Very risky, and could go very wrong.

Dead right there 44. i have no idea what he is on about. Surely the proper course of action would be to keep stumm and let your hurling do the talking. Also cant understand his attitude towards Rangers players, they wont beat down without them and if we lose we are under pressure straight off just like footballers. Too man
y managers nowadays seem to think it is about them and not the players.
Can we leave the Rangers in peace now pls, they won and they should be congratulated on their great achievement. We all prefer our own club to the one next door but there is a time for magnanimity and this is one of those.

pennypincher
County: Carlow
Posts: 208

Great Post there Pennypincer, your dead right what your saying about Kevin Ryan, Hes going on about westmeath being cocky, he says he is not going to play the rangers lads as he's sticking with what he has for now,,, i think he is loosing the plot... I was in Myshall the other night and i think rangers had 8 players there one week after winning the all ireland and apparently derek byrne was just sick so wasnt there and then he says it was good for them to win the all ireland but it wasnt good for the county team i think he is gone mad....

Best of luck to the county hurlers this year by the way...

In my opionion he is a bit too 'tactical' at times. Rather than palying players in their best positions where possible with a few instructions about how to play the oppisition, he is prone to changing around entire teams to try and get the upper hand. Often I think this just confuses matters.

Heard the team for sunday was announced the other night after training. Anyone hear anything about it yet.I think he has to play the rangers lads its not like they have not been hurling. we need a win at home to have any hope of promotion, a loss would be a big blow.If he wants to rest the rangers lads why bring them back after only a week off.Its serious commitment from them to be back so soon and for so many of them aswell.Fair play to ye.

why are carlow missing mlr players?