By John Harrington

Carlow town is a riot of colour ahead of Sunday’s Leinster SFC semi-final against Laois as excitement in the county builds to fever pitch.

Star forward Paul Broderick will go into lock-down a day or two before the game like he always does as a way of building up his physical and mental energy for the match itself.

But before then he’s made a point of savouring the atmosphere in the county rather than shunning it because he knows these are very special days for Carlow football.

“It could go by and you'd look back in a few years and go, 'Jaysus, I wish I'd taken in a bit more of that',” said Broderick today when he was announced as the PwC GAA-GPA footballer of the month for May.

“I don't live too far from the town for most of the week, it's like nothing I've witnessed before.

“Maybe when I was very young I saw something similar for Eire Óg, the town got behind them.

“It's been an unreal buzz. It's great and the hurlers are going well, it all adds to it.”

The fact that Laois will provide the opposition in Sunday’s Leinster semi-final has only added to the hype in Carlow.

The two counties share a fairly hot border rivalry that’s centred around the village of Graiguecullen which has competed in both the Laois and Carlow Club Championships at different times and won 13 senior titles in both.

They returned to Laois for good in 1927, but even to this day the area has a fairly fluid identity which continues to add spice to the rivalry between both counties.

“My home place in Carlow is not a mile from Graiguecullen and yet you'd have lads from Graiguecullen who play for Carlow clubs and you have Graiguecullen who used to be one of the most successful Carlow Championship teams until they moved to Laois,” said Broderick.

“A lot of them would shop, they would socialise, everything would be done in Carlow. I'm good friends with some of them but there is a rivalry.

“There was always a rivalry (with Laois) but we weren't there to match it in terms of their level.

“The fact that we've both come from the same division and it'll be the third time we've played each other this year, there is a rivalry.

“A lot of it is very good natured. I would have gone to school with some of these lads, I would have known them, socialised with them.

“It's a funny one but it is good-natured. Obviously, we'd like to beat them but they'd be the exact same.”

Carlow football might be on a high after their quarter-final win over Kildare, but Broderick knows only too well that Laois represent a formidable obstacle to their dream of competing in a Leinster Final for the first time since 1944 having lost twice to them already in the League this year, most recently in the Division Four Final.

“On paper, Laois are a really experienced team. They have some serious players,” he said.

“You have lads there like Ross Munnelly with huge experience, probably played in Croke Park 10 or 15 times - he's won a Leinster medal. You know, he has an amount of experience and it's not just him pulling from that, it's everyone pulling from it too.

“I happen to know him personally and he's someone who'd be able to give advice to younger lads to help them out on the day and that does stand to them.

“Aside from that, I think they're a talented bunch and I'm not saying that because it's the thing to say. They've beaten us twice - they're the toughest opponents we've faced this year.

“They're very tactically astute and, physically, they probably have an edge on us.

“It's up to our management and team to pull together and go, 'Right, how can we overcome the things that caused us to lose the last day?'”

Within the Carlow camp they’ll believe firmly they can do just that, because their unity and spirit is arguably their greatest asset.

“The county does genuinely feel like a club set-up,” said Broderick. “I think Turlough (O’Brien) and Steven (Poacher) are a huge part of that.

“It's the same with Tommy (Wogan), Benji O’Brien and the lads behind the scenes.

“A lot of them are Carlow men - Steven isn't - but a lot of them are Carlow men. Steven makes a point of getting to know everyone personally and I suppose having that information means there's great camaraderie.

“You're together more often with the lads more than you would be with your club during the club season. I think that's led to a great togetherness. It certainly feels like that as well - you can't wait to go training.

“Don't get me wrong, winning helps, there's been years where you were dreading training, not because of the lads that are here but because it's not going well.

“There's a great feeling of togetherness, not just in the team itself but the support from family, friends and supporters - it's great.”