By Kevin Regan
It’s last chance saloon for the footballers of Carlow and Wicklow this evening as they clash in the All Ireland Football Qualifiers at 7pm in Netwatch Cullen Park.
After a disappointing result against Louth in the Leinster Championship last month, Carlow will be looking for a badly needed win to give the county a much needed boost.
The scoreline didn’t do Carlow justice against Louth on the day as the Wee county claimed two late goals purely against the run of play.
Carlow did something which they haven’t done all that often in championship football in that they scored 3 goals. More often than not it’s something that doesn’t happen and if they can create these chances and take them again then victory is a real possibility.
Wicklow lost out to Laois the same day as Carlow lost to Louth in what was a double header at O Moore Park Portlaoise.
They too will target this game as a great chance of a victory and thats what makes this contest rather intruiging.
In the past few years very little has separated the sides, with Carlow recording a notable victory this year in the National League in Aughrim ,on a day where captain Darragh Foley was in fine scoring form.
There is one change today for Carlow as Leaving Cert student Darren Lunney makes way for O’Hanrahans clubman Graham Power at Wing Forward.
Another interesting observation is that Carlow lost every home game in the league this year, so the big question is can they perform under pressure at home and finally produce the goods that everyone knows they are capable of.
In Sean Gannon and Brendan Murphy, Carlow have a midfield pairing that would dominate most of whats in the country, however Wicklow’s Rory Finn will have something to say about that.
It promises to be an interesting encounter and we will bring you every bit of the action Live on KCLR with Brendan Hennessey and Willie Quinlan just before 7 o clock.
Our Coverage is brought to you with thanks to Expert Hardware at Declan Byrne & Sons Timber Sales, Sleaty street Carlow
Carlow: Robbie Molloy; Brendan Kavanagh, Daniel St Ledger, Kieran Nolan; Gary Kelly, John Murphy, Hughie Gahan; Brendan Murphy, Sean Gannon; Alan Kelly, Darragh O’Brien, Graham Power; Paul Broderick, Darragh Foley, Chris Blake.
Subs: Craig Kearney, BJ Molloy, Brian Cawley, Brian Murphy, Cathal Bailey, Danny Moran, Donal Smithers, Paul O’Halloran, Andy O’Brien.
