At the fourth time of asking, the Carlow intermediate camogie team finally got a much needed victory in the All-Ireland intermediate camogie championship on Saturday afternoon.
Goals from Eleanor Treacy and Ciara Kavanagh were pivotal as the Barrowsiders sealed a 2-12 to 1-12 win over Laois at Netwatch Cullen Park.
Following heavy defeats to Westmeath and Galway and a loss to Kerry in the opening three rounds, a fourth consecutive defeat could have proved fatal as Carlow hope to avoid relegation to the junior championship.
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Speaking to KCLR’s Full Time on Monday evening, Carlow manager Mark Ayers reflected on the Laois performance and the season so far, while he also looked ahead to their final group clash with Dublin on July 2.
He began: “Any victory against Laois is hard earned particularly when they come to Netwatch Cullen Park. It was a tough afternoon but we got over the line and that’s the main thing. It’s still all to play for but that win was imperative.
“We had targeted the game against Westmeath but they were too strong for us on the day which was very disappointing. The Kerry game was the one that we could have got a result from considering the performance but it wasn’t to be.”
Ayers continued: “We had a tough league and we only gathered the team together very late.
“We’re still only getting to know the players and the entire management team is relatively new to this level. Having said all that, if you had given me this position at the start of the season I would have taken it.
“They (Dublin) will be very nervous about us considering we’ve gained a lot of momentum. They have gone the other way and have had some poor results.
“We’ll get our team fired up as much as we can. We’re not going to hand it to them and we will be prepared and we’re confident.”
