Carlow dreaming of Croke Park after league success

Following many years of graft, veteran Carlow footballer Edel Hayden finally got her hands on national silverware at Grant Heating St Brendan's Park in Birr a fortnight ago.

Lining out at midfield, 37-year-old Hayden played a significant role in helping the Barrowsiders to secure the Lidl National Football League Division 4 title with a 1-07 to 0-06 triumph over Limerick at the Offaly venue.

Since claiming the Division 2 crown with a final victory against Roscommon in 1993, Carlow's only additional successes in ladies football - up until two weeks ago - had been at a provincial level.

Remarkably, Hayden first arrived on the adult inter-county scene in 2001 and has experienced many highs and lows in a Carlow jersey. Suffice to say, their victory over Limerick very much falls into the former category.

"I think it was Rachel Sawyer (her Carlow team-mate) was saying to me in the dressing room just before the match, I think her Mam was on the last team that won the Division 2 back years ago," Hayden said.

"Since I started back in 2001, other than a Leinster final and making semi-finals, we haven’t got any silverware really.

"It was unbelievable and even just for managers that have been in with us, and people that followed us even through the ups and downs. There are a lot of those that still come to games. No matter what part of the country it’s in, you see similar faces throughout the years."

The notion of winning a Division 4 title seemed like a wild dream for Carlow 10 years ago, when the county didn’t compete in the league for two seasons.

They eventually returned to action in 2016 and Hayden believes the Carlow resurgence began in earnest the following year when Bart Gilmartin assumed the reins of the county side.

Gerry McGill -