Carlow's victory a reward for phenomenal efforts

SEPTEMBER ROAD:WHILE Murphy, the full forward from Donegal, failed to keep his team in the football championship on Saturday, Murphy, the full forward from Carlow, was far more successful.

Scoring 1-4 – all from play – the man-of-the-match performance by Denis Murphy, with Paudie Kehoe putting almost everything the referee gave in their favour over the bar, handed Carlow a famous victory over Laois in the All-Ireland hurling qualifier.

It was a tremendous victory – but not just for the players on the pitch.

There has been phenomenal efforts put in at underage hurling level in Carlow in the last few years.The minor teams coming out of Carlow since the turn of the century have been threatening all of the traditional heavyweights in the province.

Wexford reached the Leinster under-21 final during the week, winning by four points, but Carlow put up a brave fight, and had already shocked Laois in the quarter-final.

"If we were to pick someone out that we wanted to play again knowing that we have something to prove, Laois would be the one," said Carlow senior captain Eddie Coady before the game. Coady played his 100th competitive match for his county last month.

Confidence is not something one would normally associate with Carlow hurling.

While Carlow have resisted bringing in "foreign" players to bolster their sides, two Waterford natives should rightly take some of the plaudits for their recent successes on the hurling pitch.

Jim Greene brought Carlow on an unprecedented unbeaten run to the Christy Ring Cup title in 2008, and Kevin Ryan (celebrating, left, at the weekend) then matched that achievement in 2009, before making the step up to Leinster and All-Ireland championship action this season.

The weekend's win is a long way from 100 years ago, when only 12 players from Carlow turned up for their Leinster hurling championship tie with Dublin.

Stat attack: How Sligo blew it

Galway scored their second point after eight minutes yesterday. They scored their third in the second half. And, just entering injury-time, they were five points down.

So how did Sligo throw it away? All answers c/o Markievicz Park.

AS IF the supporters of the weekend’s losers hadn’t suffered enough, TV3 delayed the draw for the second round of the qualifiers in hurling and football until this morning (between 8am and 8.30am).

As soon as the draw is made it will be on www.irishtimes.com

No place for Mayo or Staunton

WITH Mayo out, this summer will be missing one of the greatest players to walk on to a Gaelic football pitch. No, really.

Today, the draw for the first round of the All-Ireland women’s football championship will be made in Croke Park.

However, Mayo and Cora Staunton will not be included.

Despite Cumann Peil Gael na mBan meeting the Mayo players and the Mayo (women’s) County Board, a dispute could not be resolved.

At least the men’s side managed to play.

Nothing between Louth and Meath

IF HISTORY is anything to go by, one thing we are surely guaranteed in the Leinster football final is a close game – as Louth and Meath have met in the provincial decider on three occasions – one ending in a draw and the other two finishing with a single point separating the sides.

After Meath and Laois played out two draws in the 1949 Leinster championship, they met a year later in the decider – Louth holding the reigning All-Ireland champions to just 1-3 apiece in front of 36,000 spectators.

In the replay a fortnight later, Louth prevailed, 3-5 to 0-13, in front of 25,000 at Croke Park, and then beat Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final before losing to Mayo in the final. Two years later, Louth and Meath met in the provincial decider, and this time the Royal County gained revenge – winning 1-6 to 0-8 on their way to a third All-Ireland final appearance in four years. It’s a good omen for July 11th.