Carlow GAA Discussion Thread

To Waterfords credit, they won the McGrath Cup earlier this year and quite a few sites/newspapers said they had improved and would challenge for promotion. Had already beaten Wicklow in the league also.

I think Brian Murphy was brought in due to the lack of scoring forwards and Broderick's injury. I've never considered Brian Murphy a prolific scorer but TOB probably felt he'd add more quality and physicality to the full forward line. John Murphy was poor against London at CF and Hugh Gahan looked lost at Full forward, which probably also influenced things.

I think it's good we're having this conversation though, means there is strength in depth in the squad, something Carlow football hasn't had in quite a while. Real competition for places, which is great!

Happy with the side named to play Wicklow. John Murphy coming in at full forward will suit him much better than centre forward, where he played against London.

I'm intrigued to see whether Brendan Murphy will start at centre forward. I actually think it's a good position for him. Can still have an influence around the middle of the park and should get a few scores from there also. But come throw in, that space could be occupied by Darragh Foley.

Carlow look physically very strong in the forwards, with Darragh O'Brien being the lightest out of them. But O'Brien has pace and good movement off the ball, which has stood to him so far.

Great to see guys on the bench that can come in and have an influence. Gahan, Moran, Hayden will feel they should be starting and have something to prove. If in need of scores, Eric McCormack could do some damage also.

Two huge games for both footballers and hurlers tomorrow. Two wins would really put both in strong positions.

Firstly, fair play to the hurlers. Not easy going up to Derry and getting a win. A win against either Kerry or Westmeath will see them into the final.

As for the footballers, I agree Fado, forwards were very poor. I honestly don't know what the gameplan was in attack. Anytime Carlow got halfway into the Wicklow half, they seemed to hold up possession and passed left and right instead of hitting it into the full forwards. Granted the movement of the full forward line was very poor and probably didn't help matters, but if you have a big man like John Murphy in at full forward then why not hit it in on top of him or Brian Murphy?

Some of the passing and wides were very, very poor at times. Lads under no pressure passing it straight to Wicklowmen was inexcusable. Brian Murphy's penalty was very tame and some of the wides in the first half were very bad. All in all I think both teams will feel they left this one behind.

I think though expectations have to be lowered. Carlow just don't have the scoring forwards. Broderick is a huge loss and there is nobody on that panel who can replace him. Carlow simply need him back if they want any chance of beating Offaly and Longford.

But you can't deny the level of progression in this side from what we seen of Carlow under Rainbow. In the league last year, Carlow were beaten by Wicklow at home by 14 points. So you have to respect the work done by the management and players to be at least competitive.

I agree that the coaching staff have to take responsibility for that performance. As I said, I couldn't figure out what (if any) the gameplan was when Carlow had the ball in the oppositions half.

Even though changes will be made for the Offaly game and there should be, I don't think they will make much of a difference. Without Broderick, there is no target man in the full forward line who everyone looks to when in possession or someone who will get 5/6 points a game. Even having Seamus Kinsella would make a difference, but he's not available.

I'd definitely have Ciaran Moran in there, throw Cronin in at corner forward and even Jack Kennedy at wing forward who would add some pace, but I still don't think they will have much impact on the score sheet. Eoghan Ruth will probably start the next day.

Tough day for Carlow GAA today. Footballers put up a valiant effort against Offaly from what I've heard and they still have a shot of promotion if they win their final games.

Decided to go see the hurlers today and honestly, they didn't deserve anything. Very poor team performance and still making the same errors as they did against Galway in the Walsh Cup. Marking was awful throughout, lads dropping balls and too complacent in possession. Team seemed off the pace in comparison to Kerry, who always seemed to have an extra man loose. Make no mistake, the scoreline does not reflect Kerry's superiority throughout. Kerry also dominated in midfield and Carlow kept pucking the ball out to them respite their dominance.

I've no faith in this team going to Westmeath and getting the result they need next week. I heard there was disharmony in the camp and it looked that way today. Too many lads doing their own thing and not playing as a team. Also seen a couple of keys lads pissed this evening in town. Now I agree lads should be able to enjoy themselves, but after a big loss and a big game next weekend, could they not have waited another week?

All is not right at the moment with the Carlow Senior hurling side.

Stevecw wrote: »

Sad to hear that things don't seem to be going well at all with the hurlers. Very surprised at that loss yesterday, but hear that some lads were playing club games during the week. Something has gone very wrong there, last year we were blaming Meyler but seems like he wasn't the problem at all.

I think a big problem for Carlow is that the standards have dropped since relegation from 1B. Team just isn't sharp enough nor is the work-rate good enough. Both coaches and players have to take collective responsibility for that. The team has the quality to win 2A, but the application isn't there.

I've no confidence of a win on Sunday, which will mean another step back from last year. Probably looking at relegation from the Senior Championship also. If that happens, then the county hurlers could be in big trouble for years to come.

Tough for the hurlers yesterday. Wasn't up at it but heard they probably deserved something out of the game.

To go out to two last second one point defeats must be hard to take for the lads. It's a shame, but hopefully they can re-group and get things back on track the Championship in May.

Well done to Carlow CBS on reaching the All Ireland SFC B schools final.

Some very good players in that side.

Great achievement from Carlow CBS on winning the All Ireland B.

Very well done lads!