John Martin: GAA need Carlow to sort out mess

PULL TOGETHER…Carlow’s hammering at the hands of London was a worrying sign

IT’S the same old story. And if Kilkenny weren’t such a joy to watch, it would be a boring story. On Sunday, Tipperary led for all but about four minutes of their clash with the Cats at Nowlan Park.

They were doubles scores ahead after 20 minutes, 0-8 to 0-4, and on 67 minutes led by a point. They ended up losing by five, 2-17 to 0-18. Tipp have now beaten Kilkenny just twice in 11 games since the 2010 All-Ireland final.

After the results of the opening day, I fancied Tipp to go into the lion’s den and come away with the points. The Munster side had looked very sharp against Dublin while Kilkenny had scored just 10 points in 70 minutes hurling against Waterford.

And with Brian Cody using the Walsh Cup as u-21 trials, Tipp went into the match with seven games under their belt while the Cats were playing realistically their second competitive match of the year. It was perfectly set up for Tipp to send Kilkenny into relegation territory but instead the Cats now sit in third in the table.

The headlines suggested a smash and grab act from Kilkenny but on watching a recording of the game, those headlines don’t give a fair reflection of the 70 minutes. For 10 minutes before half time and 20 minutes after, Kilkenny were dominant and always looked the more comfortable team in the tit for tat second half.

The difference was the goals. Tipperary had three chances and took none, Kilkenny had three chances and took two. Without Seamus Callanan (missing due to a finger injury), Tipp looked pretty toothless up front, and given that they had racked up 1-23 against Dublin on the opening day, the question has to be asked is whether Kilkenny now have Tipp beaten before they take the field. Two wins from the last 11 meetings tells its own story.

While Tipp are missing the likes of Callinan, Jason Forde and Conor O’Brien, Kilkenny lost Richie Hogan before the throw-in and also fielded a couple of less experienced players such as Robert Holden at centre half back – who had a great second half on Bonner Maher – and James Maher, who finished with 0-4. The seamless Kilkenny transition continues.

Patrick Maher had a goal chance to put Tipp four ahead at one stage but missed the target. Contrast that to Kevin Kelly’s two majors. For his second opportunity, most forwards would have tapped the ball over the bar, but Kelly saw the chance to drive a nail into the coffin and he took it.

That should be enough to guarantee Kelly a starting spot for the rest of the League. But not in Kilkenny. Kelly is now probably wondering if he did enough to start the next game. Up until his two goals, he had been fairly quiet, and in a League game against Clare last year, Kelly scored 1-9 but played a bit part for the rest of the year.

In many counties, he would have thrown his head up, perhaps even firing a parting shot at the manager as he left. In Kilkenny, players knuckle down in training and wait for their next chance. The key driver for those players is that they know if they are playing well in training, that they’ll get that chance again.

It’s only February, but already it’s looking like the same old story.

The surprise result of the week was in Dr Cullen Park in Carlow where the home side suffered a 17-point defeat to London. It’s Carlow’s worst defeat for quite a few years, probably since Antrim beat them in the Christy Ring Cup final of 2006.

The rumours are of internal turmoil, of lack of respect for the management, dissatisfaction with the county board – you know the story by now – but when a county shows such a high turnover in players, it’s usually a fair indication that all is not right in the camp. Add to the mix that Carlow turned up for their opening Walsh Cup fixture with the bare 15 players and it’s easy to understand why the rumours have taken hold.

There are genuine reasons why some players aren’t on board this year. Jack Kavanagh is currently in Australia and Richard Coady is suspended, but the side fielded by Pat English on Sunday started just three players who played against Antrim in the final Leinster SHC round-robin game last year. Two more of the 2015 Championship team came off the bench.

Carlow native English faced a considerable turnover of players last year when he took over the team for the start of the 2015 season. There are currently just four of the starting 15 that beat Westmeath in the 2014 Championship available to English.

Whatever’s going on in Carlow, it needs to be resolved. While it’s easy to be parochial and hope that the resolution comes after they play Derry and Antrim in the league, but the fact is that hurling needs more competitive teams at the top level and Carlow is one of the counties capable of making the step up.

Since their defeat to Antrim in the 2006 Ring Cup final, their rise up hurling’s pecking order has rivalled any county – including Dublin, without the multi-million pound investment.
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