Confidence is high in Carlow hurling circles when it comes to their chances of pulling off an upset against Laois tomorrow but manager Colm Bonnar has sounded a note of caution.

After their Christy Ring Cup heroics, the Barrowsiders will make the short trip to O'Moore Park to take on Eamonn Kelly's side with a place in Monday morning's All-Ireland SHC qualifier draw up for grabs.

"It's a big task for us," the Tipperary All-Ireland winner pointed out to The Irish Independent.

"There's a lot of hype in Carlow and people saying we've a great chance, but there has to be a little of realism about where Laois are and in terms of where we're coming from."

Whatever happens tomorrow, 2017 will go down as a year to remember for Carlow hurling.

"It was a great achievement for Carlow to go up to Croke Park and win in such style, and score 5-23 was past our own expectations. To see Marty (Kavanagh) go up the steps at Croke Park and pick up the Cup on behalf of the Carlow team, it was an incredible experience.

"Even at the start of the year they weren't sure this was going to be a fixture for this year, so we didn't put much thought into it until the Wednesday after the Christy Ring final.

"We met with the panel and started trying to get our feet back on the ground because players were on such a high, such a buzz and the excitement of winning that we thought it would be hard to get their feet back on the ground.

"There's a hell of a game coming up for us, and we need to get our head around it and needed to start preparing again mentally and physically for it, because sometimes when you achieve something that you train so hard for, it can cost you a small bit. That was my main worry, but at least we've had two weeks now to work around it."

Tweet

Most Read Stories