IF A GOOD start is indeed half of any battle then Carlow will head for Limerick on Saturday with renewed football confidence. They drew cheers of admiration from their pathetically small support when chalking up an opening NFL Division 4 win in Dr. Cullen Park on Sunday.

It was big John Murphy (now with Malahide club St. Sylvester's) who finally closed the lid on the midlander's coffin when he got under a Brendan Murphy cross from the right to punch the only goal of the contest at the Deerpark end in the 51st minute.

It was a gutsy performance from the Barrow brigade who appeared in some difficulty early in the game when the royal blues went two up by the eighth minute after Danny Keenan ended a raid started by Shane Mulligan after 100 seconds and Francis McGee converted the first of six frees. and Carlow breathing heavily but in a nail-biting finish Smith converted 33 and 34th frees before he was banished by a second yellow card as his colleagues faced those three quick 45s, all well-defended by a very enthusiastic defence.

The back seven will take great pride in restricting the blues forwards to a mere two points from play, and only one for 72 minutes from Brian Kavanagh in the 50th minute and he well shackled by Liam Murphy.

James Clarke made one spectacular save from Kevin Mulligan to force the first of those three 45s while Alan Curran, Tony Bolger and Kieran Nolan were ultra-comfortable despite the pacy Longford distribution which invariably perished in the doublebanking Carlovians. Brendan Murphy's return as been the local's biggest bonus for years and again he was the dominant figure in the middle while ahead of him Gannon, Smith, Carpenter and returning-from-injury skipper Brian Murphy showed voracious appetites for work even if scores from play were not that plentiful although they kicked nine first half wides in what could be described as a wasteful passage.

Saturday's ( 7.30) collision in Limerick could well have a huge bearing on the destination of the credits come the end of the campaign, with the greens also off to a winning start.

Carlow were awarded 25 of the 43 frees, recorded eleven of the 18 wides.

After clawing back level by the 26th minute with scores from JJ Smith (free) Sean Gannon and Brendan Murphy, Carlow led for the first time when Mark Carpenter was on target seven minutes from the interval which arrived with the teams sharing eight scores, the last from a second McGee free.

The hosts played with a verve too often absent, and significant was the strength of their finish when under pressure and facing three successive 45s and in he end the defence may take a bow in restricting the visitors to just two points from play.

The opening stanza of the second half was tight and tense with Carpenter nudging Carlow ahead after a mere 16 seconds and then Smith having to restore parity with his second point from a free before nosing the tricolour in front with yet a third in the 49th minute.

The result was still very much in doubt until a raid involving Alan Curran and Daniel St. Leger saw Brendan Murphy - that tower in the middle – deliver his cross which namesake John deflected to the net for a four points lead.

It lifted the Longford challenge to a new high and the raised four white flags to just one in reply - a Simon Rea free - 1-8 to 0-10