The Left Wing Back Podcast

Kev and Stevie reflect on Carlow's 1-27 to 1-18 Joe McDonagh Final loss to Laois. Massive thanks to our show supporter ⁠Crettyard Digital⁠ If you enjoy our podcast and want to support us, you can buy us a coffee here: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/leftwingback

Alan Hartnett of Laois Today joins Kev and Stevie ahead of the 2026 Joe McDonagh Cup Final between Carlow and Laois at Croke Park on Saturday June 6th. We get a flavour of things from the Laois camp for the first segment of the show with Alan and then it's all things Carlow with a few other items discussed in the AOB section at the end. Massive thanks to our show supporter Crettyard Digital If...

Kev and Stevie renew acquaintances for a one off Special episode to discuss the landmark achievement of the Carlow Footballers at Croke Park on Saturday, while the Ladies Footballers also secured promotion on Sunday. Cover photo: Pat Ahern Music: Live is Life - Opus

We went live on Instagram to capture the moment as Carlow saw off Leitrim to secure promotion to Division 3 of the National Football League for 2027. Many thanks to all the players and coaches for speaking to us and also to Tomas Walsh for providing photos.

Kev and Stevie sit down for the final time of this Carlow Club Championship season. On the agenda is Grange's IFC success over Ballon, St Patricks JFC 'C' win, Leinster club wrap up and preview for Hurling, Football, Camogie and Ladies Football and much more besides. Massive thanks to our partners: ⁠Tully's Bar Carlow⁠ ⁠DS Sports⁠ ⁠Heron Sauna⁠ ⁠Infinite Energy⁠ Kevin Kelly Pharmac...

It was a weekend which saw Old Leighlin become Carlow SFC champions for the first time since 2013. Ballon and Grange couldn't be separated in the IFC Final. Fighting Cocks won the Junior A against a heartbroken Leighlinbridge side. Eire Og take Junior B honours. St Patricks and Ballon to meet again in the JFC C Final. Some weekend of drama to get through! Massive thanks to our partners: ⁠Tully...

Having heard from Rathvilly and Grange voices on our feature county final podcast, we conducted a whistle stop tour to see how the rest of the clubs are embracing the week that's in it. We hear from St Patrick's player Eoin O'Toole who features in the Junior C Final. Paddy Byrne gives us the rundown on the Ballon side of things as the contest both the Junior C and Intermediate Finals....

With county final weekend upon us we got the views of two men who will be having a slightly different experience of it. Rathvilly's Eric Molloy was sidelined with an ACL injury from the early part of the year, while Cathal Bailey suffered a serious leg break in Grange's game with St Patrick's in the IFC group stages. The two lads give us an insight into the injuries, the recovery invol...

It was a weekend that saw MLR win a first ever Carlow Senior Camogie Championship title as they saw off 26 in a row seeking Myshall. Setanta recorded their own piece of history in winning the Junior Camogie Championship. Eire Og confined Tinryland to relegation from the Carlow SFC. Rathvilly progressed to meet Old Leighlin in the Carlow SFC Final. St Patrick’s & Grange played out another thriller...

Semi Final weekend did not disappoint. We still don't know who will be squaring off against each other in the Senior, Intermediate, Junior A & Junior B Football finals for various different reasons! We got through all the nuts and bolts of it, we also chat about the Ladies SFC Final and lots more besides. Massive thanks to our partners: ⁠Tully's Bar Carlow⁠ ⁠DS Sports⁠ ⁠Heron Sauna⁠ ⁠I...

Christy Bolger joins us this week with nothing off the table in terms of conversation (the way it should be!) We chat about the week that was in terms of Tinryland's situation. We chat about the pickle Eire Og are in and discuss how it all happened. We line up this weekend's cracking Semi Final showdowns. We go through all the Quarter Final action. And we give the low down on the Camogie S...

Where does one start here! A weekend of absolute chaos in the Carlow SFC has seen Eire Og dumped out of the Championship by MLR and as of now they are set to face Tinryland who are considering an appeal after a potential error in their draw with Bagenalstown. We bring you the lay of the land for all teams as it stands and run down through all the grades with a wrap up on Camogie and Ladies footbal...

On this week's show we line up the scenarios which could potentially unfold in Round 3 of the Carlow Football Championships. We reflect on Round 2 where lots of interesting results have added to this weekend's excitement. And Stevie pays tribute to his great friend Niamh Dobbs who sadly passed away last week. We would like to offer our condolences to all Niamh's family and friends.

Welcome along to a new season of club football action on The Left Wing Back! Stevie joins Kev this week having attended no fewer than 8 Championship games over the weekend. We dissect Fenagh's standout win over Tinryland, Eire Og and Old Leighlin's two point littered draw as well as facile wins for Pal and Rathvilly. The IFC saw St Patricks off to a flier, setting up a nice top of the tabl...

Our final show from the Carlow Hurling Championships sees us digest MLR's swashbuckling success over St Mullins in the Senior showpiece. We reflect on a dream day for Naomh Bríd in winning the Carlow Intermediate Championship just hours after the Junior side had taken honours in the Shield Final. Thanks to ⁠⁠ Infinite Energy ,  ⁠⁠Brendan Kavanagh Furniture ⁠⁠ , Heron Sauna &  ⁠⁠Property Pa...

Having heard from MLR and St Mullins voices ahead of the weekend earlier on this week, we caught up with Alan Brennan of Naomh Brid and Padraig Holden of Burren Rangers to line up Saturday's action. Thanks to ⁠www.infiniteenergy.ie⁠ , ⁠Brendan Kavanagh Furniture ⁠ & ⁠Property Partners Buggy⁠ If you enjoy our shows you can help us keep it lit by spotting us a coffee here - ⁠https://buymeaco...

With MLR & St Mullins set to do battle yet again in a Carlow Senior Hurling Final, we decided to catch up with two gents who have crossed paths and indeed shared pitches and dressing rooms on many great occasions down through the years. Hugh Paddy O'Byrne came on the scene when MLR made the breakthrough against St Mullins in 2006 and helped himself to 7 SHC medals thereafter before moving...

Since we last recorded, a final has been refixed and played so we did a preview and review all in one LOL! We go through all the bells and whistles for this weekend's Carlow Hurling Finals. We chat about Hurling For Cancer, a poignant weekend for Ballinkillen, thrash talk between the host and a current serving mentor and much more! Thanks to Infinite Energy , Property Partners Buggy and Brenda...

If you're not reading the above headline while imaging the beat of Billy Joel's classic We Didn’t Start the Fire then please go read it again and then listen to the podcast! What a weekend of Hurling. No shortage of things to talk about for Kev & Stevie this week. We discuss the half time incident in the Ballinkillen v MLR SHC Semi Final, we dissect all the other semi finals and of course we c...

Kev & Stevie go through the runners & riders ahead of the Carlow Junior, Intermediate and Senior Hurling Championship semi finals this weekend. Topics include - Naomh Brid's new addition - Air Traffic control for high fielders - Brock Lesnar lookalike - A plausible case for a Senior semi final upset Thanks to Brendan Kavanagh Furniture and Property Partners Buggy. You can support our e...

Leo McGough joinus us this week for a superb discussion on Carlow hurling. We thrash out the inter county season and where Carlow may have missed a trick outside of the Joe McDonagh Cup also. We look at Kildare and weigh up who is currently better placed to make a push. We chat about what a future All Ireland Championship may look like. We discuss how dead rubbers could be reduced in Carlow club f...

After a little sabbatical Kev & Stevie are back to take you through the Carlow Club Hurling Championships! - All Ireland Hurling Final conversation - The story of the adult grades so far - Parish Derby to whet the appetite - First teams to the fore in IHC

Over the past couple of weeks we sat down with Conor 'Horse' Lawlor at the Talbot Hotel in Carlow. Conor gave great service to Carlow at Senior level be it with the Hurlers or Footballers and at one point both. He was the scorer of one of the most famous goals in Carlow GAA history with they saw off Kildare in the Leinster SFC in 2018. He also played a key role in Carlow's Joe McDonagh Cup Final w...

We had the pleasure of sitting down with recently retired Carlow Hurling stalwart Jack Kavanagh in his home place for this jam packed episode. Jack came straight on to the Carlow Senior Panel after a successful stint at Minor level where he played in a Leinster Final vs Kilkenny and All Ireland Quarter Final vs Tipperary. We ask Jack about what led him to make the decision to step away from county...

This week we pay tribute to the monumental success of Bennekerry/Tinryland in winning a first All Ireland Club Football title for Carlow at adult level on Saturday at Croke Park. Lauren Dwyer joins us to give us a flavour of what day was like, the lead in, the celebrations and just exactly how much it means to everyone. Bernard Mullen was involved with the team back when titles were hard to come b...