Mikey Bambrick of Carlow pictured with the Tailteann Cup at the launch of the Tailteann Cup at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
By Paul Keane
For Joe Murphy's first competitive game as Carlow manager last month, he was still figuring out what the players' names were.
The Eire Og man was parachuted into the hot seat to replace Shane Curran having started the season in charge of Naas, a club he'd won three Kildare SFC titles with.
Carlow, jumping up two divisions to play Division 2 side Meath, didn't do so badly in the circumstances, starting slowly but winning the second-half that day in Navan and shooting five two-pointers.
Now, almost five weeks on, they have a significant bank of work put in under Murphy's new regime and will begin their Tailteann Cup campaign on Sunday, away to Fermanagh, with fresh energy and renewed optimism.
"I think before that Meath game there just wasn't enough time to get anything done," said Carlow captain Mikey Bambrick. "The management were still figuring out who the players were, and where they play, but I think we've had a good block of training over the last few weeks. Joe is getting to know us and we're getting to know him. We're definitely a lot better set up now than when we were going into the Meath game.
"In fairness, Joe had us fully revved up for the Meath game, ready to go out and win. There was no going out and just accepting anything. We were going out for a win."
Carlow manager Joe Murphy during the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship round one match between Meath and Carlow at Pairc Tailteann in Navan, Meath. Photo by Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile.
Murphy is clearly cut from the same Carlow cloth as former manager Turlough O'Brien who inspired the Carlow Rising era during his six seasons as manager.
O'Brien guided the county to promotion from Division 4 for the first time in over 33 years and, in 2017 and 2018, they played memorable Championship games against heavyweights Dublin, Monaghan and Tyrone, holding their own for the most part and beating Kildare in the latter year in Leinster.
"I was there for one year with Turlough, there was a good buzz there alright," said Bambrick, who has similar faith in Murphy to engineer something special in his native county. "You can see his enthusiasm. There's a lot of new concepts and a lot of new ways of doing things that we maybe wouldn't have done in the past. Sometimes that can take time but I think we've adapted quite well. Training has been going well so it will be interesting to see how we go now in the Tailteann."
Bambrick, a versatile performer who has played just about everywhere for Carlow, will be central to their fortunes.
Two terrific goals, both scored in important wins over Longford, underline just how valuable a player he is to Carlow. And also his versatility.
He was wearing number three for the first of those goals, scored in the 2023 Tailteann Cup, when he surged through the centre of the opposition's defence and finished smartly to help secure an important win.
More recently, in this year's league, he was wearing number 11 following a positional switch and started his run on the right sideline this time but the outcome was the same as he slalomed infield and drilled to the Longford net again.
"I would have started out corner-back but then been full-back for the last four or five years," said Bambrick. "It's only this year that I've gone up to centre or wing-forward. It's interesting. We've a number of players who can play different positions so there could be big change ups even from game to game. That's what you want, not to become too predictable."
Mikey Bambrick of Carlow during the Allianz Football League Division 4 match between Waterford and Carlow at Fraher Field in Dungarvan, Waterford. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile.
Bambrick has fond memories of that first goal against Longford, in 2023.
"A scorching day in O'Moore Park," he smiled.
There could be more of those days in the coming weeks if Murphy gets a sweet tune from his adopted group.
"I think any team feels they can beat any team on a given day," said the Old Leighlin clubman. "I think it's fairly wide open. Take London there, they could put it up to any team, they're a tough team to beat. You might not look at them as a team that could win it but on any given day they could beat any team. The guys at the top of Division 3, or coming down from Division 2, are at a higher standard alright so it can be difficult for Division 4 teams to adapt but I see no reason why they can't.
"We're away to Fermanagh first. They're coming off a competitive game against Down in Ulster, so they're probably in a better place. But there has been a couple of weeks of a break since the provincial games and you never really know how that will affect teams either."
