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Carlow GAA thread

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Replying To Barrowsider: "Interesting idea, if hurling clubs can play kilkenny league surely we could do something similar with football, I actually have a little idea myself for the dev squads I'd split them in 4 and have an internal regional championship by year, great way of keeping as many as possible involved too, we should be looking at whats best for Carlow as that won't always be the same as in other counties play the finals of these competitions under lights as curtain raisers senior games where possible." I think myself diving into 4 would dilute the quality too much and I'd have my doubts whether a four team regional competition would get traction. Would there be enough games as well. If we got two teams from say the U 14 development squad playing in Div 1 and 2 of the Dublin U/14 league and a third team playing in Div 1 in Kildare I think the intensity of play at that level would be exactly what our best young players don't get playing in our own county. In those counties those leagues have matches at every age group every two weeks so plenty of games. Whatever we do I think we'd all agree we're too small a county to just leave it as it is we're clearly not producing players at minor level despite all the work in putting development squads together. I think there just isn't enough intense club football to bring our best players on and the county dev squads just don't play enough matches which is why I think the top divisions in Dublin and Kildare might be way to go. It would be costly I appreciate putting teams on the road to Dublin every two weeks for probably half the year but maybe it's worth prioritising money in this way for maybe two three years and see if there's an improvement. We know what playing in the Kilkenny leagues has done for hurling so why not something similar for football. Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1412 - 08/02/2023 18:01:33 2457343 Link
Replying To Barrowsider: "The style we are playing isn't as open as it was in the previous two seasons, there is definitely a great structure to our play now, we are not as cavalier in our approach, I think of any progress is to be made this year we will have to solve the midfield issue, we are struggling there as clever as we can be you still need a high fielding midfielder who can win his own ball and contest their kicks" Bringing Ross Dunphy out to midfield for all kick outs might be an option? Back inside as a target once the play has moved on but out to middle for all kick outs. Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1412 - 08/02/2023 18:03:02 2457345 Link
Massive game this weekend in terms of whether Carlow will be up there challenging for promotion. Leitrim, Sligo and Laois are the favourites, if Carlow want to get in amongst them I think they need to win this weekend. TaosHum (Carlow) - Posts: 236 - 09/02/2023 08:50:32 2457377 Link
Replying To Barrowsider: "The style we are playing isn't as open as it was in the previous two seasons, there is definitely a great structure to our play now, we are not as cavalier in our approach, I think of any progress is to be made this year we will have to solve the midfield issue, we are struggling there as clever as we can be you still need a high fielding midfielder who can win his own ball and contest their kicks" Mixed opinions here on where Carlow football is and where it's going, good to see it's not all negative, having said that at this stage we should be reasonably confident of putting it up to Laois, Carlow football will be bench marked against their performance against Laois not vice versa. I'm sure Niall Carew and his selectors will do their very best to field their best possible team to collect 2 valuable league points, if they do it will be a massive confidence boost in getting promotion, Laois appear to be in the driving seat for now so we will have to wait and see. supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2907 - 09/02/2023 10:35:50 2457400 Link
Replying To supersub15: "Mixed opinions here on where Carlow football is and where it's going, good to see it's not all negative, having said that at this stage we should be reasonably confident of putting it up to Laois, Carlow football will be bench marked against their performance against Laois not vice versa. I'm sure Niall Carew and his selectors will do their very best to field their best possible team to collect 2 valuable league points, if they do it will be a massive confidence boost in getting promotion, Laois appear to be in the driving seat for now so we will have to wait and see." Its a long time since we put it up to Laois. Perhaps Sunday week will be that day! Carew has the players playing to their strengths and the players seem to be enjoying their football. its a young team but Foley as captain has had a really positive influence on the younger players. Ciaran Moran has added steel in the tackle and the pace of the forwards is getting the team more opportunities for scores than in the past. The Laois game will tell a lot in terms of where the team is currently at and I think we will give them a good rattle. The debate on development squads is a different topic and they were constituted to give keen players the chance to be coached and play matches at a higher standard than they experience at club level. Such squads can work for some but they cause problems for clubs too where kids often are not in a position to train with their clubs. Yes, some clubs struggle with good coaches and with getting enough game time in matches but overall, the player joins a club and that should not be forgotten. carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1820 - 09/02/2023 18:14:24 2457531 Link
Replying To Onion Breath: "I think myself diving into 4 would dilute the quality too much and I'd have my doubts whether a four team regional competition would get traction. Would there be enough games as well. If we got two teams from say the U 14 development squad playing in Div 1 and 2 of the Dublin U/14 league and a third team playing in Div 1 in Kildare I think the intensity of play at that level would be exactly what our best young players don't get playing in our own county. In those counties those leagues have matches at every age group every two weeks so plenty of games. Whatever we do I think we'd all agree we're too small a county to just leave it as it is we're clearly not producing players at minor level despite all the work in putting development squads together. I think there just isn't enough intense club football to bring our best players on and the county dev squads just don't play enough matches which is why I think the top divisions in Dublin and Kildare might be way to go. It would be costly I appreciate putting teams on the road to Dublin every two weeks for probably half the year but maybe it's worth prioritising money in this way for maybe two three years and see if there's an improvement. We know what playing in the Kilkenny leagues has done for hurling so why not something similar for football." If it was doable I'd be very much in favour of it. Financially I could never see the board going for it though as you have to feed them and full gear etc, I fully agree though that the reason for a lack of minor success lies with the club championships, ideally we would have competitive division 1s in reality it's division 2 where you find competition, division 1 is dominated by eire pal and St martins, that isn't going to change either as those 3 have a huge numeralical advantage, now if the other clubs could join up for a Premier league you could create a competitive div1, again unlikely to happen but maybe there could be two leagues one where you play as you are and a second amalgamated league, (,tinryland blues asca,) (tullow grange) (rathvilly clonmore) (fenagh myshall btown) we have to try something else or we will never progress. I think bringing out dunphy makes sense wasted inside in my opinion Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1591 - 09/02/2023 20:14:31 2457547 Link
Discipline Discipline Discipline. It's hard enough to win any game with 15 but here's another match where we have to play a full half a man down & actually went down to 13 before the final whistle. I'm sick of saying it. When will we learn? Was a game we could have won as Kerry weren't at their best today. So important to pick up a win to stay in this division. Could come down to Derry game now carlo (Carlow) - Posts: 211 - 12/02/2023 18:36:52 2457959 Link
Replying To carlo: "Discipline Discipline Discipline. It's hard enough to win any game with 15 but here's another match where we have to play a full half a man down & actually went down to 13 before the final whistle. I'm sick of saying it. When will we learn? Was a game we could have won as Kerry weren't at their best today. So important to pick up a win to stay in this division. Could come down to Derry game now" Yeah. Seems to be a big chance lost today. Instead of being in a strong position to challenge for league they are out of the running after 2 games. But with some key players still to come back they should easily pick up 2 wins. Maybe building a panel will serve them well in the long run. Skippy2 (Carlow) - Posts: 61 - 12/02/2023 21:12:28 2458001 Link
Frustrating loss alright, as Kerry were there for the taking, but still getting closer to having everyone available and match fit. Derry and Down both in Carlow is important, as they've struggled up north in recent years. They should have enough to survive, but would prefer it not coming down to the final day against Derry. TaosHum (Carlow) - Posts: 236 - 13/02/2023 09:42:42 2458013 Link
The most important competition in the GAA calendar for div. 4 counties in particular is the national football league that has always been my view over the years and nothing has changed, the Provencal championship is another competition that is popular with most counties, as a Carlow man I would continue to support it but unfortunately not in its present structure as it Favours greatly the stronger counties in their respective province. The back door system did a lot of damage to the weaker counties, admittedly it temporarily made one or two counties look good, no more than that though. The introduction of the TC competition was rushed through imo, it is structured in a way that it close couples the TC to the provincial championship and to the National football league. The bigger, and more successful counties will handle it well enough but I can see greater demands on the smaller dual counties. Without bias I believe that Carlow deserve great credit for fielding teams in both codes up to and including senior level, however the current structure the way I see it will put more demands on the county, I will give it three years and then the whole thing will have to be restructured again. Working on the development of the underage, improving their skills especially in weaker and smaller counties should have been a more important priority, that said, I think Carlow football / hurling is in a healthier state than what it was when I started posting on this HS forum a few years ago but there is a lot more to do, getting St. Patrick's (Tullow) up to senior level competitively again is a domestic priority. Carlow's priority is promotion to div.3 everything else is secondary. Including the T C. supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2907 - 13/02/2023 21:26:19 2458179 Link
Replying To supersub15: "The most important competition in the GAA calendar for div. 4 counties in particular is the national football league that has always been my view over the years and nothing has changed, the Provencal championship is another competition that is popular with most counties, as a Carlow man I would continue to support it but unfortunately not in its present structure as it Favours greatly the stronger counties in their respective province. The back door system did a lot of damage to the weaker counties, admittedly it temporarily made one or two counties look good, no more than that though. The introduction of the TC competition was rushed through imo, it is structured in a way that it close couples the TC to the provincial championship and to the National football league. The bigger, and more successful counties will handle it well enough but I can see greater demands on the smaller dual counties. Without bias I believe that Carlow deserve great credit for fielding teams in both codes up to and including senior level, however the current structure the way I see it will put more demands on the county, I will give it three years and then the whole thing will have to be restructured again. Working on the development of the underage, improving their skills especially in weaker and smaller counties should have been a more important priority, that said, I think Carlow football / hurling is in a healthier state than what it was when I started posting on this HS forum a few years ago but there is a lot more to do, getting St. Patrick's (Tullow) up to senior level competitively again is a domestic priority. Carlow's priority is promotion to div.3 everything else is secondary. Including the T C." Agree with that re Tullow. It's a black spot for GAA. How it came to this I don't know. The tradition was there with great senior championship winning team in the 60's with lots on the county team and then the Community School used to have great runs in the old vocational schools championship but that's gone too. For a town its size in a county our size we can't afford to almost exclude a town of 4,000 people from our pick which we are at present with an odd exception. Bagenalstown used to be the same but seems to be picking up and in both codes which is great but we need Tullow playing senior football. I don't know how though without putting big money in which we efficiently don't have. Onion Breath (Carlow) - Posts: 1412 - 14/02/2023 13:55:45 2458259 Link
I see the u20 footballers got a big beaten by Wicklow last week. 31 players named and yet not 1 from the county champions MLR were asked in. Really the co board should be intervening here and asking the management why, We have an uphill battle enough with our small numbers without cronyism when selecting panels. At least the hurling mentors are more open with more and more players from the lesser known hurling areas being included in the county panels. Dualclub1 (Carlow) - Posts: 276 - 15/02/2023 19:08:49 2458443 Link
Replying To supersub15: "The most important competition in the GAA calendar for div. 4 counties in particular is the national football league that has always been my view over the years and nothing has changed, the Provencal championship is another competition that is popular with most counties, as a Carlow man I would continue to support it but unfortunately not in its present structure as it Favours greatly the stronger counties in their respective province. The back door system did a lot of damage to the weaker counties, admittedly it temporarily made one or two counties look good, no more than that though. The introduction of the TC competition was rushed through imo, it is structured in a way that it close couples the TC to the provincial championship and to the National football league. The bigger, and more successful counties will handle it well enough but I can see greater demands on the smaller dual counties. Without bias I believe that Carlow deserve great credit for fielding teams in both codes up to and including senior level, however the current structure the way I see it will put more demands on the county, I will give it three years and then the whole thing will have to be restructured again. Working on the development of the underage, improving their skills especially in weaker and smaller counties should have been a more important priority, that said, I think Carlow football / hurling is in a healthier state than what it was when I started posting on this HS forum a few years ago but there is a lot more to do, getting St. Patrick's (Tullow) up to senior level competitively again is a domestic priority. Carlow's priority is promotion to div.3 everything else is secondary. Including the T C." Tullow are working hard at underage, minor final in 21? Beaten by a point in 20 semi? Not sure that has transferred to under 20 grade though, tullow needs to be division 1 at all underage levels, far too often they hang around in division 2, Michael davits likewise, hanging around in division 2 looking for the easy road. Think tullow have a gpo now and that will be a big help in terms of recruitment of both players and coaches. Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1591 - 16/02/2023 12:03:19 2458496 Link
Replying To Dualclub1: "I see the u20 footballers got a big beaten by Wicklow last week. 31 players named and yet not 1 from the county champions MLR were asked in. Really the co board should be intervening here and asking the management why, We have an uphill battle enough with our small numbers without cronyism when selecting panels. At least the hurling mentors are more open with more and more players from the lesser known hurling areas being included in the county panels." 'Cronyism when selecting panels' is a rather raw statement to make on a panel of players that has been picked for an u 20 football panel! Have you any evidence of this? Just because nobody from MLR was picked does not mean that they were not asked for trials, or that they refused to join the football panel. Perhaps those who were asked decided to join the hurling panel? What players do you believe should have been part of the set up? It was a terrific win for MLR to defeat hot favourites Eire Og and was a momentous occasion for the club but I feel that many in MLR prefer the hurling when it comes down to a choice. In this day and age, players are just able to choose one sport to play at county level. carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1820 - 16/02/2023 12:10:57 2458497 Link
Replying To carlowman: "'Cronyism when selecting panels' is a rather raw statement to make on a panel of players that has been picked for an u 20 football panel! Have you any evidence of this? Just because nobody from MLR was picked does not mean that they were not asked for trials, or that they refused to join the football panel. Perhaps those who were asked decided to join the hurling panel? What players do you believe should have been part of the set up? It was a terrific win for MLR to defeat hot favourites Eire Og and was a momentous occasion for the club but I feel that many in MLR prefer the hurling when it comes down to a choice. In this day and age, players are just able to choose one sport to play at county level." Nobody was asked in for trials or otherwise.!!! Who should be asked in? If you were at any of the u20 games, you'd find plenty that would improve that panel. Regardless of whether they like hurling or not, they should be asked if they are good enough. I'm sure that some of the 20plus players in there from the Carlow Town clubs like soccer too but that doesn't come into account nor should it. Its poor and unacceptable so there is no point condoning it. Dualclub1 (Carlow) - Posts: 276 - 16/02/2023 18:20:12 2458577 Link
Replying To Dualclub1: "Nobody was asked in for trials or otherwise.!!! Who should be asked in? If you were at any of the u20 games, you'd find plenty that would improve that panel. Regardless of whether they like hurling or not, they should be asked if they are good enough. I'm sure that some of the 20plus players in there from the Carlow Town clubs like soccer too but that doesn't come into account nor should it. Its poor and unacceptable so there is no point condoning it." If nobody was asked in perhaps the MLR players were not deemed good enough by co management. For your information I was at the semi finals and final. A pity that the 2 semi finals were played at the exact same time by the way. Hard to watch 2 games at the same time ! The best player for Rangers in both games I watched is overage for this year. Another good player from Rangers is playing colleges hurling and I think is doing his Leaving Cert. At least one player who also likes soccer has been dropped from the panel. Players who did not turn up to training are not being started by their clubs and some have continued to stay at soccer which is a pity for their football team mates. Final thought, any MLR player good enough for the Co senior team... after all they again made the semi final... if they are good enough why are they not in with the panel ? carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1820 - 17/02/2023 18:00:42 2458728 Link
Replying To carlowman: "If nobody was asked in perhaps the MLR players were not deemed good enough by co management. For your information I was at the semi finals and final. A pity that the 2 semi finals were played at the exact same time by the way. Hard to watch 2 games at the same time ! The best player for Rangers in both games I watched is overage for this year. Another good player from Rangers is playing colleges hurling and I think is doing his Leaving Cert. At least one player who also likes soccer has been dropped from the panel. Players who did not turn up to training are not being started by their clubs and some have continued to stay at soccer which is a pity for their football team mates. Final thought, any MLR player good enough for the Co senior team... after all they again made the semi final... if they are good enough why are they not in with the panel ?" Carlow team vs Laois named. Plenty of pace in the side although I see a number of omissions from the panel - injuries building up.....Mark Furey, Ciaran Moran, Dara O Brien etc Tomorrow will be an important day in the building of this very young side. Hopefully they continue to improve. I like the style they are playing and seem to have a good level of fitness which has been noticeable in the last 10 mins of their games v Wicklow and Waterford. Should be a close game. Laois will be expecting to win easily. novalis (Carlow) - Posts: 312 - 18/02/2023 12:11:11 2458812 Link
Replying To novalis: "Carlow team vs Laois named. Plenty of pace in the side although I see a number of omissions from the panel - injuries building up.....Mark Furey, Ciaran Moran, Dara O Brien etc Tomorrow will be an important day in the building of this very young side. Hopefully they continue to improve. I like the style they are playing and seem to have a good level of fitness which has been noticeable in the last 10 mins of their games v Wicklow and Waterford. Should be a close game. Laois will be expecting to win easily." I agree that tomorrow's match v Laois is a real test of where Carlow footballers are at. A lot of pace from defence up and the team is playing a nice fast style. The challenge is to get more scores and not be relying on Foley from frees. Midfield has been good in open play but not great at aerial ball. Moran is a very big loss as he was slotting in well into the defence and was very strong in the tackle. I carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1820 - 18/02/2023 15:10:10 2458853 Link
Replying To carlowman: "I agree that tomorrow's match v Laois is a real test of where Carlow footballers are at. A lot of pace from defence up and the team is playing a nice fast style. The challenge is to get more scores and not be relying on Foley from frees. Midfield has been good in open play but not great at aerial ball. Moran is a very big loss as he was slotting in well into the defence and was very strong in the tackle. I" Good luck to all tomorrow. I'd agree we are young and learning and the game vs Laois will bring this new nucleus of players on in leaps and bounds. We are certainly in transition but I saw a bit of fight in the lads when down to 14 for whole 2nd half vs Wicklow. We were 3 points down and our fitness level in those last 10 mins was impressive. Can't make it tomorrow but will be tuned from Birmingham !! Up Carlow. fullbach (Carlow) - Posts: 264 - 18/02/2023 21:35:33 2458943 Link
Tough day, we are just missing that bit of fire power, laois were more economical with the ball they had, we had loads of possession just lacking that ability to score under pressure, I'd take some positives from it though, we created plenty of scoring chances, we mainly got around their high press on our kickout, they were pushing 4-4 up on it so it was a challenge to get the ball out, our lack of an option on a long out ball meant we were forced to play through that high press. Not an easy task, we have to get something out of Leitrim next week Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1591 - 19/02/2023 18:49:07 2459140 Link