Coolderry’s Carroll hails scenes at Leinster clash ‘IT’S ONLY A GAME, BUT GAA IS VITAL’

SOMETIMES, it’s about a lot more than the final scoreline. At the final whistle of an emotionally charged Leinster quarter-final that required extra-time to produce a winner, the electronic scoreboard read Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-25 Clonkill 2-19.

But the result was soon replaced by a poignant message that got to the heart of the tragic backdrop to the match: ‘Rest In Peace Little Annabel’.

Three-year-old Annabel Loughlin, daughter of Clonkill and former Westmeath hurler Enda, lost her life in heart-rending circumstances and was only buried a few days earlier.

The guard of honour by the Ballyboden players after the match for their Westmeath opponents was one more moment that stayed with Brian Carroll. Coolderry is a small, tightknit rural community like Clonkill and it’s their turn to face Ballyboden tomorrow.

The quarter-final struck a chord with him on so many levels. ‘I’ve huge sympathy for Clonkill. That tragedy puts the game in perspective. I’ve a young daughter as well. It’s only when something like that happens you appreciate the things in life and that it’s only a game. While we all put our lives on hold at times, it pales into insignificance when things like that happen.

‘Hurling, like life, has its ups and downs. Particularly in rural areas like Coolderry, I’ve seen what the GAA can bring. The sense of community. Because without it in Coolderry we have very little else. The GAA is a great entity and I’ll be forever grateful of growing up in that tradition.’

It’s part of the reason why he was delighted to lend his support to the Hurling For Cancer Research fundraiser at Newbridge during the summer when over 5,500 supporters showed up to see a Davy Russell selection take on a Jim Bolger selection. Carroll lined out in a forward line that also included Ireland soccer international Stephen Hunt and Wexford camogie player Ursula Jacob.

‘I was thrilled to get involved in something like that. People will back things that they know are bigger than the game. That’s important.

‘Clonkill to their credit, went out and gave it a serious go against Ballyboden. Just look at the depth of talent this Ballyboden team has. Paul Ryan, 15 points the last day. Conal Keaney, Man of the Match in the county final replay. Shane Durkin still there. These boys are serious hurlers. And they bring that athleticism. This Ballyboden team won five in a row in Dublin as well. There are 10 of those still involved. So we know what we’re up against.’

But they’ve bucked the form book all year, the presence of 62-year-old Offaly legend Joachim Kelly on the sideline adding a further touch of romance to their unexpected League and Championship double. ‘It’s wellknown that we were tipped for relegation,’ admits Carroll. ‘That was a motivating factor for us. The age profile of the team is on the wrong side of 30 but we felt if we could get ourselves in the best shape possible and get ourselves enjoying hurling — that’s the thing that Joachim has brought. ‘Joachim is a great character. A very positive individual. Brings hurling back to its very basics. The skills and components needed. Doesn’t over-complicate it. It suits us with our age profile and suits our club as well.’ Carroll is one of those in his mid-30s leading the charge, pinging 1-5 in the Leinster quarter-final against Mount Leinster Rangers. The fact that it was Kilcormac-Killoughey defeated in the Offaly final sweetened the deal. ‘There was a great feeling about that one. Between us, we’d won seven out of the last eight Championships, but had never met each other in a final. So this was almost the deciding title.

‘We’d been written off all year. Even going into the final a lot of people would have felt Kilcormac-Killoughey had our measure, comfortably. But look, that’s our 31st title. We’ve a huge tradition in Coolderry. That doesn’t just happen.’

A son of two-time All-Ireland winner and All-Star Pat Carroll, he feels the scheme no longer caters for the Offalys of this world. It has been 20 years since the county’s signature 1998 AllIreland success.

‘For me, there has to be an alternative. To me, An All-Star is no longer about the year’s hurling, it’s about the All-Ireland championship. Knock-out championship. You have to get to the latter stages of the AllIreland to get an All-Star. Okay, if that’s what it is, that’s what it is.

‘So then we have to reward people who hurl well in other Championships, like the Leinster Championship. Like the National Hurling League. I was lucky enough to get nominated twice but realistically, I was never going to win an All-Star. Because Offaly got never got anywhere near winning an All-Ireland.

‘It’s hard enough to keep going without winning anything, especially when you’ll never be recognised for your individual performances either. The All-Stars as they are, are not encompassing of the whole year.

‘Go back to the 1980s and you had six, seven teams being represented on the All-Stars. We’re down to three, max four.’

He’d like to see a version of the scheme cover the National League. Or a selection picked from the star performers in the Leinster and Munster championships. ‘I think that is the only way. If you have separate competitions, you have separate AllStar selections. One player might win four of them but it’s better to spread the net. It certainly makes it more inclusive. The All-Stars is dominated by the top counties.

‘If I hurled for Offaly and I finished my career with four or five Leinster AllStars or whatever I could look back on my career and go, “I had a good old innings. At least my performances were recognised”.

‘I never won an All-Star and I never could.’

He describes 2019 as a ‘massive year for Offaly’, when his native county will compete for the first time in the second tier Joe McDonagh Cup. ‘The Joe McDonagh Cup is excellent, but I wish it came in after everybody plays in an initial Leinster championship. It comes in then to prolong your season, not shorten it.

‘The one good thing is that the Joe McDonagh final is played on a big day, namely Leinster final day, but I would love to see it played on the day of the senior All-Ireland. If Offaly play Laois on the day of the Joe McDonagh final, that’s the only realistic chance they’d have of playing on All-Ireland final day.

‘With minor gone to Under 17, we’re only breeding a stronger playing field for the strong counties. The minor championship is dominated by the stronger counties. We’re just preparing them for the big days when there should be an opportunity for other counties. To me, that’s where elitism is starting.’

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