This article is from page 95 of the 2008-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 95 JPG
CONTRASTING results from last year but Carlow won’t complain. An early set-back by Clare who travelled to Dr Cullen Park saw go under by five points and spiral into relegation Kouser
They then went on to only win one league game in a dismal campaign and looked on the Clare game as the beginning of the slide. But twelve months since that game, Carlow are a completely different side under new manager Paul Bealin.
The former Dublin All-Ireland win- ner has transformed the flagging side into a more determined outfit, epito- mised by a victory over his former side, Wexford, in the O’Byrne Cup before a inspirational performance to draw against Dublin in the sem1- final.
A change of venue – Cusack Park fell foul of the weather – and trech- erous conditions couldn’t halt their progress on Sunday as they turned what looked like a perilous situation into a memorable victory.
After the game, Bealin gave his players a warm down in the centre of the field before relaying his thoughts on the league opener.
“They showed a great bit of spirit and character and I think there’s a
little bit of pride back in the jersey,” he said.
“It’s going in the right direction and they showed that more and more, especially team spirit and team mo- ee NCon
“We are not going to get carried away because we have only won one match, the equivlalent to what we won last year in the league – so we will have to build on that.”
It all looked grim for Bealin’s side seven minutes into the second half when substitute Brian Farrell was sent off for a high tackle on Stephen Hickey. At that stage, Carlow were already two points down and Bealin concedes that if Clare had kept their discipline, it might have been a dif- KROES ON LE
“Don’t forget Clare had the breeze behind them in the scond half, but in those conditions, it certainly would have been an uphill battle. But we tried to keep our discipline. I would be diappointed that any of our play- ers were sent off. I didn’t see the in- cident and I know that’s a cliché that most managers use but I actually didn’t see it.
“Look, we are just happy that we came back at them and this time last year Clare beat us by four or five at home and so it’s a revenge game and that’s what it was.”
Bealin admits that he initially con- sidered the change of venue as a Clare tactic to unsettle his side but whatever the venue, he was also con- scious of his side’s need to consist- ently perform in the league after an impressive O’ Byrne Cup run.
“This year, Carlow competed in the O’Byrne Cup, they beat Wexford, they matched Dublin and Dublin beat them well the second day but it wasn’t about the O’ Byrne Cup today. It was about team spirit, perform- ances, discipline, tackling properly, workrate, intensity and they showed all those aspects of the game today.
‘And they needed to show it in the conditions out there because travel- ling to Cusack Park thinking it was there and then having to come here, we probably used it and said ‘look, they are bringing us down here for a reason’ and I suppose we thought that Cusack Park was alright but we did learn that the conditions were atrocious.
“All things considered, we’re de- lighted to get the game out of the way and to have won it and got off to a great start was a bonus.”