Carroll plotting a WEE upset with London

Former Roche man facing native county for first time

WHEN he missed London’s trip ‘ home’ for a low-key Division 4 clash at the start of 2016, Martin Carroll genuinely thought his one and only chance to face his native Louth had come and gone.

The former Roche Emmets midfielder was on a well-earned year out from football and work, enjoying a cycling world tour with his girlfriend.

It’s not clear where exactly he was as Colin Kelly’s men grafted to a 2-9 to 0-9 victory, but it was certainly a world away from a cold and damp Darver in late January.

And yet missing that innocuous NFL opener has nagged at Carroll ever since.

‘It was a disaster,’ he recalls. ‘I took the year out to travel and Louth were relegated so we were going to be playing them either home or away.

‘It turned out to be Darver and then they travelled to London for a training camp and a challenge against London that same season and I missed that too. Dan [O’Connell] and David (Quigley) were in the panel too - so after that I did think this isn’t meant to be.’

A victim of the recession, Carroll re-located to London in 2011, but he was a committed Emmets clubman up to that point. His parents moved out of the border parish, to Blackrock, when he was 16, but he remained a blue and won a Paddy Sheelan Cup in 2009.

But after serving his time with Hagim Gas in town, he departed for London where he still works with an Irish firm. As part of the integration process he joined Parnells and two years later he received an inter-county call-up. With many young players in the same boat, Ireland’s loss was London’s gain and the Exiles famously reached the 2013 Connacht final, where Mayo inevitably proved too strong.

Having missed most of the league with an injury, Carroll did feature in the Championship wins over Sligo and Leitrim, but his lack of game-time caught up with him and he didn’t make the cut for the decider.

But it’s a period he remembers with fondness.

‘Championship wins are special for London,’ he reveals. ‘We don’t win too many games in league or championship, but funnily enough this year we felt we could turn Sligo over.

‘We had a good league, one of our best ever, and there were a couple of games that just didn’t go our way that could have made it even better. We ran Carlow and Laois pretty close and they ended up winning promotion and of course Carlow went on to beat Louth and Kildare.

‘We were in a good routine in Ruislip too. We played all our league games there this year because the season before we played every game away when it was being re-developed. So we were feeling good and confident going into the Sligo game and that made the defeat (1-21 to 1-11) even more disappointing.’

But drawing Louth was the perfect tonic for Martin, and there’ll be no crocodile tears if the Exiles pull off a shock.

‘I never wore the red jersey. I played for North Louth in a kind of a tournament that Peter Fitzpatrick was using for trials in 2009 I think it was, but that doesn’t count obviously.

‘I’m a full-blown Exile now and this could be my last year in the panel.

‘I’m 30 and other things start to take priority, like work and that, so I suppose I was running out of time to play Louth. The lads have even been joking since the draw that it’s my testimonial.’

Given their 2018 displays and results, Louth would have been high on his teammates’ Qualifier draw wish-list, but Carroll didn’t care about form or even the Exiles’ prospects of securing what would be only their second ever backdoor win - he wanted Louth and made no secret of it.

‘I was very open to the lads about it, that I wanted Louth, and yeah to be fair it probably gave them a bit of a lift too. It’s still a Division 2 team against a Division 4 team and on paper they are the better team, but things haven’t been going great for them this year and it’s a home draw for us, so you never know.’

Win, lose or draw, Carroll is looking forward to catching up with the Louth players after the game. He used to play against Declan Byrne and Derek Maguire regularly and he’s good friends with Jim McEneaney.

‘I don’t what their travel plans are, but Ruislip is great after a championship match. People who don’t see each other for 12 months catch up and have the craic. It’s a social thing as much as anything.’

Whether he can put one over his former county remains to be seen, but Louth supporters may get to see a bit more of Carroll this summer - back in the blue of Roche.

‘Lads have got on to me over the years, but it’s a big commitment to go home and play. For one thing you don’t get to train with the team. But this year things haven’t going great with Parnells.

‘I tried to get a transfer and it didn’t happen and there have been a few differences of opinion. I haven’t played this year, but the season doesn’t really kick in until late August.

‘As I said I’m 30 now, so I don’t have that long left and it would be great to play with Roche again.’