Carlow men gearing up for return to lower league
Tuesday June 15 2010
DEMOTED THEY might have been but Co. Carlow FC are already gearing up for the 2010/'11 season when returning to the Leinster League Division 1A (Saturdays) for the first time in 14 years.
New coach Johnny Burns (Tullamore) has enlisted the services of Damien Sheehan who has drawn up a summer training programme for more than twenty players who will follow those orders every Friday until the start of the new season.
The club, having lost Carlow IT students Alan Kenny (to Clontarf) Rory Stynes (to Old Wesley) Emlyn Lynch (to Bective) and Niall Harney, are on the hunt for pivotal players including an out-half to replace Stynes.
An incentive to push out the boat this season is that all provincial winners will be inducted into the new-format All-Ireland League for the 2011/'12 season when the league will be increased to 52 teams playing in five divisions, two in Division 1 (to be known as Premier 1 and 2) and three division below.
However, Carlow will have to outpoint clubs like Towns Cup holders Boyne, Tullamore, Cill Dara, Newbridge and Dundalk as they entertain a return to the senior station.
This season Carlow hope to field an under 19 team which may include the best of the IT students as part of a revitalising programme; Oak Park very shy of 19s and before that 18s despite having a senior formation.
With Junior 1s and 2s playing on the same day, Carlow are looking into playing the second side at 2.3pm followed by the 1s at 4pm in a bid to attract spectators, numbers of which dwindled very disappointingly over the last few seasons.
The firsts will be led by long-serving John Joe Waddock with Damien Murphy and Matt Murray captaining the other teams with the under 19s to be supervised by Brendan Stynes who has been in the management of the most successful team in the club over the last two seasons, the 16s and latterly the 17s who reached the Leinster and South East Cup finals only to lose to Tullamore and Tullow respectively.
In the meantime Tag is in full swing at Oak Park on Thursdays with up to 300 participating.
New committees are also gearing up for the new season both to improve on-field performance and the financial position which has been well-managed of late.
The committee chairmen are: Rugby – Jim Browne; Selection – Harry Sothern; Finance – Mick Mullins; Social – Ronan Curran and Grounds – Stephen Fleming.
