Co Carlow Create History

Co Carlow created history on Thursday May 15th, when they became the only club to win both the Leinster Senior Cup and the Provincial Towns Cup after beating DLSP, 23-11 in the Senior Cup decider played in Donnybrook.

Co Carlow were the biggest draw in the Junior game, prior to their elevation to senior ranks, and they won the Provincial Towns Cup five times in six years between 1992-1997. They were unlucky to lose the ’95 semi-final to Naas who went on to win the final.

When Co Carlow were involved in Towns Cup finals, crowds of 5,000+ were commonplace, it’s reckoned that up to 7,000 attended the ’94 decider when they defeated Tullamore 20-15 at The Blackgates, home to Tullow RFC.

By the time they’d won that fifth title in the 90s – destroying a good Navan side 21-3 on a wet afternoon in Naas RFC – there was nothing to touch them in the Junior game in Leinster and as it turned out there was nothing to touch them anywhere in season 1996/97 when they qualified for the AIL having seeing off closest challengers, Midleton and Omagh Academicals in the Round Robin qualifier.

Promotion up the AIL ranks saw them into Division One when they fiinished second to UCD in 2000/2001 and since then although they’ve lived dangerously, they’ve shown their traditional courage and commitment to continue to mix it with the big boys.

This year, their survival in Division One, went right down to the wire and a last day victory over UL Bohemians in Thomond Park. And now they’ve capped a marvellous year with victory in the Leinster Senior Cup and in doing so could very well bring the sort of appeal to this competition that they once brought to the Towns Cup.

SCORERS – Carlow: M Sweetman, M Logue tries, D Van Zyl 3 pens, 2 cons.
DLSP: E Devitt try, C Hickey 2 pens.

Co Carlow. M Sweetman, M Buckley (R Barbour 81), I Dwyer, R Armstrong, M Logue, G Jacob (L Peavoy 80), D Van Zyl, K Corrigan, A Galavan (J Hannon 79), L O’Byrne (K Ashmore HT), R Sheriff, L McGowan (P Holden HT – L Hannon 69), D Cox, D Hyland, A Melville.

DLSP E Devitt, C Hickey, D Foran (K Lillis 80), D McCabe, M Vioreanu, S Broughton, B Hogan, K Condron (K Jackson 72), S Sarsfield, K Taite, P McDonnell, S Kavanagh, J Jones, K Sharkey, D O’Brien.

Referee. – D Woods (Leinster Branch).