But for the heroics of the county's minor footballers, 2007 would have been a very depressing year for Carlow GAA followers. Carlow minor manager Declan McGovern has every reason to be proud of his team's groundbreaking achievements. In a year when the Carlow senior footballers struggled badly and the hurlers failed to achieve their goal of winning the Christy Ring Cup, the county received a much needed boost when the minor footballers reached the Leinster final for the first time. This fine achievement, combined with the minor hurling team's historic appearance in last year's provincial decider, highlights the tremendous work that is being done at underage level in the county. It also bodes well for the future of Carlow, whose supporters have endured more disappointment than most over the years. "There is no guarantee that what we achieved this year will be repeated at senior level, but it's a start and a step in the right direction," says Carlow minor football manager Declan McGovern. "Good minors don't always make good seniors, and I think a lot of people in Laois would tell you that after all the success they've enjoyed at minor level over the past 10 years or so. "I was very proud of the effort the lads put in, even if the year ended on a low note when we lost heavily to Galway. People in Carlow can now see that you will be rewarded if you're prepared to put the effort in, and that things like history and tradition shouldn't hold you back." Offaly native McGovern, who is principal of St. Corban's Primary School in Naas, had managed both Naas (who he guided to a first Kildare SFC success in 62 years in 1990) and Carbury before agreeing to accept the Carlow minor manager's post. Along with his selectors Dan McInerney, Ken Hickey and Joe Roberts, and physical trainer Sean Adamson, he succeeded in transforming the Barrowsiders from perennial whipping boys into championship contenders in what was only his first season at the helm. "We were coming from a very low starting point," he recalls. "Last year Westmeath hammered Carlow by 27 points in the Leinster championship and confidence was low. But because there is no Leinster League anymore, we decided to go up to Ulster and play in their league. We didn't win a game, but it was great preparation for the championship and one of the things that we learned about ourselves was that we could compete at a high level when we had everyone available to us." Carlow's losing run continued when they succumbed to Longford by 2-4 to 2-7 in the opening round of the Leinster championship after they kicked 14 wides. Fortunately, there was a new qualifier system in place in Leinster this year and the Barrowsiders took full advantage of it to turn their season around. In their first qualifier match, they ended Meath's reign as Leinster champions with a sensational 2-12 to 3-8 victory at Dr Cullen Park. Carlow were full value for their win, despite the fact that their goalkeeper Pat Hughes came to their rescue with three point-blank saves in a thrilling second half. Full back and captain Daniel St. Ledger also made a double save on his own goal-line in the dying moments. The teams were level on 1-5 each at half-time, but the home side took control in the third quarter with outstanding midfielder Brendan Murphy scoring their second goal within two minutes of the restart. Carlow appeared to be home and hosed when they led by 2-12 to 1-8 with seven minutes remaining, but two late goals from full forward Brian Sheridan brought Meath to within a point. However, time ran out on the Royals and Carlow were up and running. Declan McGovern's charges recovered from a 0-5 to 1-4 half-time deficit to beat 14-man Wexford by 2-9 to 1-7 in their next outing at Dr Cullen Park to qualify for a Leinster quarter-final clash with Westmeath. A 28th minute goal from Wexford's Richard Dunne had rocked the home side, but they made an excellent start to the second half with a converted free, followed by a goal in the 33rd minute by Shane Redmond. The result remained in doubt until substitute Gordon Lowry sealed Carlow's win with a last-minute goal. The Barrowsiders had home advantage once again for their clash with Westmeath and they avenged last year's humiliating loss to the same opposition with a fully merited 2-13 to 0-13 victory. They made a dream start when Daniel St Ledger's 50-metre free went all the way to the net and that score proved to be the difference between the sides at half-time with Carlow ahead by 1-7 to 0-7. Points from Thomas McDaniel and Conor Lynam had Westmeath just a point adrift shortly after the restart, but Carlow dug deep and Bill O'Connor's 54th minute goal made certain of the win. Carlow's prize for beating Westmeath was a rare outing in Croke Park against Louth. Despite their unfamiliarity with the venue and the fact that they were appearing in a Leinster semi-final for the first time since 1994, the Carlow boys were unfazed and were full value for their 1-10 to 0-9 win. However, their achievement in reaching their first provincial final was marred somewhat by a mass brawl with erupted in the closing stages and resulted in star midfielder Brendan Murphy being dismissed along with Louth pair Brian Duffy and Dean Matthews. Earlier, Carlow had come from 0-2 to 0-4 in arrears to lead by 1-4 to 0-4 at half-time thanks to a Con Murphy goal and a brace of Denis Murphy points. After that, the Wee County were always playing catch-up as Carlow held firm for an historic victory. Ahead of the Leinster final against Laois, Carlow received a major boost when Brendan Murphy had been cleared to play. But for once, the brilliant Rathvilly youngster was outshone by Laois' Conor Meredith, who almost single-handedly destroyed Carlow's hopes of Leinster glory with a stunning hat-trick of first half goals. Meredith's heroics helped propel the O'Moore County into a commanding nine-point lead and Carlow looked to be down and out at the interval. But they refused to wilt and despite Cormac Mullins driving a penalty over the bar in the 40th minute, they gradually eat into the Laois lead and were back in contention when substitute Jordan Lowry fired home after the ball had rebounded from the crossbar. The Carlow pressure was intense in the closing stages, but they couldn't find the second goal which would have given them a remarkable victory, with Laois just about holding on for a 3-8 to 1-12 win. "We threw everything at Laois in the second half and it was great to see the lads making such a fight of it after a disastrous first half when we conceded three goals that should have been prevented," Declan says. "Even though we lost the Leinster final, I think we won a lot of admirers with our battling performances throughout the campaign. After losing the first round to Longford, we got our heads up for Meath and managed to get over them after a titanic struggle. We also had to pull out all the stops to beat Wexford and we got nothing easy in the games against Westmeath or Louth either. We may have lost to Laois, but we could take much encouragement from the fact that we won four championship games in-a-row and weren't that far away from winning a Leinster title." The Barrowsiders' seven-match championship campaign ended with an unexpected collapse at the hands of eventual champions Galway in their first ever All-Ireland quarter-final at Tullamore. The beaten Leinster finalists were in trouble from the start with Jonathan Ryan pouncing for a Galway goal after just 10 minutes. Galway went on from there to forge out a 1-6 to 0-5 interval lead. However, the bottom well and truly fell out of the Carlow challenge in the second half when further strikes by Damien Reddington and Michael Martyn eased Galway to a 3-13 to 0-7 win. "We had hoped to give a better account of ourselves against Galway, but it wasn't to be. We were well in contention at half-time, but they got a goal early in the second half and that was a huge setback to us. We had a period of dominance after that, but failed to take our chances and Galway got a third goal before the end to run out somewhat flattering winners." Since the minor campaign ended, Carlow football has suffered a massive blow with the decision of Brendan Murphy to sign a two-year contract with top Australian Rules outfit, Sydney Swans. Murphy was regarded as the county's brightest prospect in years and his defection, along with that of Thomas Walsh to Mick O'Dwyer's Wicklow, have been bitter pills for supporters to swallow. "Carlow is a small county and can't afford to be losing players of the quality of Brendan Murphy. He was an inspirational figure to us and I've no doubt that he would have gone on to become one of the county's best ever footballers," McGovern concludes. Tweet

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