Search Results for 'Christy Ring'

On the computer I use to type out my weekly ramblings for Carlow First there’s an inbuilt thesaurus. I’d never thought of using it before until now. Why now? Well until last Sunday night I thought I had seen it all as both a player with and follower of the Carlow senior hurling squad. How wrong could I have been!

The GAA has announced the squads that have been selected for the under 21 and senior hurling/shinty internationals against Scotland on Saturday next, October 18. The senior international takes place in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny at 3 pm, while the under 21 will be held in Durrow, Co Laois at 12 noon.

The GAA has announced the squads that have been selected for the under 21 and senior hurling/shinty internationals against Scotland on Saturday next, October 18. The senior international takes place in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny at 3 pm, while the under 21 will be held in Durrow, Co Laois at 12 noon.

Maybe not a lot of people know it, certainly not a lot of my generation, but it’s a fact – when Louth won the All-Ireland football title in 1957, there were two Mayo men on the team. And the two of them – Dan O’Neill and Seamie O’Donnell – actually played the entire second-half at midfield together, after Seamie moved out there from the half-forward line. Together, they drove Louth forward in what was a titanic struggle and, with their help, the Wee County’s perseverance paid off. Sean Cunningham scored a late goal to help them overcome Cork in the final that saw Padraig Harrington’s father, Paddy (since passed away, RIP) lose his second All-Ireland final on the trot.

Éire Óg played one of their “get out of jail free” cards last Sunday as they managed to scrape a draw from their encounter with Longford champions Colmcille. When this game is analysed as no doubt it has by the Teach Asca management they will surely look to the paltry scoring return of just 2-4. That's only six scores over an hour and forty or so minutes of football when extra time plus injury time is taken into account. Indeed going the entire second half without registering a score is almost unheard of for the Carlow champions. Finding themselves down three points early in the game it was 18 minutes before Éire Óg got themselves in on the scoring act. As in the county final replay that first score was a goal as ace poacher Eric McCormack added to his tally for the year. Two further scores, a point from Brian Carbery and Mark Kelly's goal provided a nice four point cushion at the half time break. Having weathered that early storm the home side would have been fancied to push on and finish the job in the second half but the Longford men had other ideas. In completely dominating the second half they almost caused the shock of the round by dumping the strongly fancied Carlow men out of the competition. At this stage of the game it was left to the home sides defence to keep them in the game. While forwards often take the plaudits, this time Éire Óg have their magnificent defence to thank for giving them another chance to progress to the semi final. With Colmcille dominating midfield they came in waves at Éire Óg. On two occasions they seemed sure to score what probably would have been a match winning goal but both efforts were saved magnificently by goal keeper Michael Hennessy. Having brought the game to extra time they were then dealt the blow of Shane Myers sending off. Without their regular full back they had to dig even deeper to live to fight another day. That they did is a testimony to the renowned never say die spirit and inner belief that the club has built up over the years. When Colmcille twice took the lead in extra time Eric McCormack showed his worth by holding his nerve to knock over the equalising frees. I always say that there's no such thing as an easy free but when your clubs continued involvement in the competition is at stake you could say there is just a little extra pressure. Well having got the draw out of the game they now must travel to Longford for the replay. For a team with Éire Óg's experience this will not worry them unduly. As has been well documented they have an outstanding record in replays. Hopefully the conditions will lend themselves more to good football unlike what we had last Sunday. Even though they will be away from home I still feel that Éire Óg will be favourites for this one and justifiably so. The forward line will be anxious to put more scores on the board this time round. A similar scoring return next weekend might not be enough. Simon Rea's injury is a blow but Éire Óg are well known for having strength in depth. Cormac Mullins came on the last day to score an important point at the start of extra time and could start in the replay. Experience could be the key to the result on Sunday and Éire Óg have this in spades. This I feel should be enough to see them progress.

Once upon a time the winter months or the closed season as we will call it in the GAA was a tad dull and boring.

The announcement regarding the appointment of Jim Greene’s successor as manager of the county senior hurlers was made at last week’s county board meeting, and quite interesting it was. Trainer of Oulart The Ballagh for the last two seasons, Kevin Ryan is to be the new man in charge. Speaking to county chairman Pat Deering in the lead up to the appointment, he assured me that a very highly regarded candidate had expressed interest in the job. This is in no small way due to the fact that the profile of Carlow hurling has risen consistently over the last few years with the performances of some very talented minor teams and the senior squad’s Christy Ring success this year.

Coole Park will this evening play host to a production of The World’s Wife by Mephisto Theatre as part of the Coole Spring Cultural Programme.

The biannual series of cultural events at Coole Park is now drawing to a close but there are still a few events to look forward to before the end of the programme.

John O’Mahony and his senior management team are more than likely disappointed with Keith Higgins’ decision to play hurling for Mayo rather than travel to NY for Mayo’s championship opener on Sunday week. The Mayo hurlers will play Kerry in their championship opener on the same weekend. The talented corner- back has just returned to Ireland having spent a number of months in Australia. Keith did however line out last week in Mayo’s challenge match against Kildare in Kiltoom. I expect that the Mayo management are delighted to have their ace defender back in plenty of time for the bigger challenges ahead, but would have liked if he could have travelled to the Big Apple for the weekend. However it should not have come as a huge surprise that he declared for the hurlers as Keith has always declared his love of hurling and it is no secret that it is his preferred game. This is the first time that both codes have clashed on a championship weekend, which is unfortunate as it has forced Keith to declare his preference. Coincidentally, I met with Martin Brennan, the Mayo county senior hurling manager, during the week who told me that he was thrilled that Keith opted to play in Mayo’s Christy Ring Championship encounter with Kerry. It was not a total surprise to him either as he had been in touch with Keith frequently over the last number of weeks once he was aware of the imminent clash of fixtures.