GAELIC GAMES/Focus on O'Byrne Cup Final: Ian O'Riordan talks to Carlow footballmanager Pat Roe about the county's need to get into that winning habit

One of the first things to be forgotten when the National Leagues take off next month will be the O'Byrne Cup football final. This Sunday, Carlow and Wicklow play for the first silverware of the year, but the official line is that both counties are far more focused on the coming league and championship.

Of course there is some truth to that. Both counties can think about league promotion as they set out to contest the separate sections of division two. And both can think about a longer summer thanks to the new qualifier series.

Yet neither are about to hold anything back on Sunday. As far as the GAA calendar is concerned, this final gets top billing along with the report of the Strategic Review Group, and RTÉ have ended up giving it the top slot on Sunday Sport.

"So far we haven't really seen the O'Byrne Cup as a high priority," says Carlow football manager Pat Roe. "But now that we're in the final it is very important that we win."

The home support that gathers in Dr Cullen Park on Sunday will feel the same way. Winning is very important to a county that so rarely contests for anything. Carlow have never won the O'Byrne Cup (losing out in three finals), while the B All-Ireland back in 1993 is the only honour of note in most living memories.

Last weekend they fought back against Laois to earn their final place, and now Roe, formerly of Laois football fame, is on the verge of putting Carlow under the spotlight - temporarily at least.

"Our main priority is still to get this team settled, and get it down to a championship panel of around 20. We only got back training the Thursday before the Laois match, after having a four-week break over Christmas. And we didn't play particularly well. Some of our distribution was poor and some of the support work was poor as well. But I was pleased with their competitiveness. This team is very committed and have great desire and will to win.

"It is fantastic to be in the final now, but of course we are putting it in perspective. It is a quiet time of the year, and the RTÉ cameras are not there because of their interest in Carlow and Wicklow football. They are there because there is nothing else going. Once the O'Byrne Cup is over you know it will be sidelined very quickly."

Roe is still putting his signature on the Carlow team. He came in after the 2000 championship - replacing Cyril Hughes - and is still trying to find the all-important blend of youth and experience. As it is, Carlow wouldn't be regarded as a particularly young panel.

"At the moment we're still trying to get the right blend of players. The average age would be around the 26- or 27-age mark, and we do have three or four players that would be over 30, and just the one player under-21.

"But my own preference would be for players with a bit of experience. Unless you have an underage player that is truly exceptional there is little point in putting him in the senior panel."

Like his Wicklow counterpart John O'Leary, he will be eager to make sure his team doesn't get carried away about the result on Sunday. Nor let it get in the way of their long-term preparations.

"It's a real juggling act at the moment. The league is right on us now and you don't want to be doing too much stamina work when you're going out to play those games. But you still have to get the training in at this time of year."

So far, though, the O'Byrne Cup has proved a useful ride. Offaly, Meath and Longford all contested the same group, and although they too were giving it low priority, they did bring out some of the best in Carlow.

Roe has named the same team for Sunday, although there are some injury concerns over Willie Quinlan, John Nevin and Peter Kiernan. And even if the rest of the country soon forgets their fate on Sunday, Carlow are sure to dwell on the result - good or bad - at least for a little while.