Bagenalstown Gaels have announced a new senior hurling and football manager.
We had heard rumbling during the week that two new names had been ratified, without any social media announcement. So we picked up the phone and contacted secretary David O’Brien, who confirmed two names to us.
Former Ballinabranna manager Rory Hurley will be in charge of the football side of things while former Blacks & Whites manager Eddie Scally will be taking control of the senior hurling team.
Naturally, the second call I made was to KCLR’s own Eddie Scally. After doing the whole “Jaysus, you kept that quiet” rigmarole, Eddie on the record explained his reasoning behind swapping Kilkenny for Carlow.
“The opportunity came my way, Bagnalstown was an easy move for me. In fairness to them, I think they are a brilliant up-and-coming young team, with a nice sprinkling of older lads. Meeting with the chairman and the lads in the club, I am just really excited to get going, to be honest. “
Bagnalstown Gaels made it to the county final last year, but unfortunately, they fell at the final hurdle to St. Mullins. Scally said this time they fully intend to go all the way ;
“That is going be the aim starting out. There will be six teams in Carlow all aiming for the same thing. I do not think there is a huge gap between any of the clubs in Carlow. St. Mullins and Mount Leinster Rangers have a little bit of a head start, but I see no reason why we cannot press on. “
“Our target will be to try to win the Championship, there would be no point doing it if I didn’t think we could. So hopefully we give it a good rattle.”
We will look to catch up with Rory in the New Year, and would like to wish outgoing managers Gavin Nolan and Hamish beaton all the best, and thank them for being to kind over the years granting interviews post and pre match.
