O'Shea the front-runner to take over troubled Carlow

Carlow's search for a new manager to succeed Bobby Miller could be concentrated outside the county. Miller resigned prior to Carlow's National League engagement with Mayo last month, a move which resulted in the squad's players refusing to play.

A resolution to the conflict, with the players' removing their "strike" notice, was found earlier this week. That scheduled match with Mayo was postponed by the GAA's Games Administration Committee, but the impasse in the affair wasn't broken until a meeting involving a number of parties including players, county board officials and sponsors.

Initially, the problem arose with the disbandment of the supporters' club which forced Miller to quit and the players' decided to back him. The outcome is that a new supporters' club, probably to be called the "Friends of Carlow GAA", will be formed and it is likely to include some members of the former supporters' club and county board officials.

However, Miller won't be returning to the managerial position - and the county board has asked Brendan Hayden Jnr, the county's Games and Development Officer, to undertake training sessions until a new manager is appointed. Hayden conducted his first session on Wednesday night and has been given some breathing space because the county's scheduled O'Byrne Cup match next Sunday has been deferred due to Meath and Wicklow's drawn game last weekend. That match will be replayed tomorrow.

Former Kerry footballer Jack O'Shea, whose only inter-county managerial experience, with Mayo, proved to be rather stormy, is considered the front-runner for the vacancy, although Kieran Brennan, the former Laois manager, and Tommy Murphy, who managed Wicklow club side Baltinglass, are also in contention.

Meanwhile, Limerick's championship ambitions this year have been boosted by the return to the squad of Damien Quigley, who undertook a self-imposed exile from the hurling squad almost 14 months ago to concentrate on his college studies. Manager Eamon Cregan has re-called Quigley for a challenge match against UCC on Sunday week.

Ironically, Quigley's re-call comes at a time when the bulk of the county's squad will be away in the Canaries, a reward for their National League success last year. Limerick fly out on Sunday. Still, even with so many players away, Cregan decided to take up the request from the students for a game and hopes the occasion can be used to assess some fringe squad members.