Carlow coach Thurbon to leave Oakpark

Co Carlow coach Kim Thurbon has revealed he will not be seeking to renew his contract with the AIL Division One club and intends…

Co Carlow coach Kim Thurbon has revealed he will not be seeking to renew his contract with the AIL Division One club and intends to leave Oakpark at the end of the summer.

Thurbon has been at Carlow for three years and in that time has taken the side from Division three to the top flight in successive years but now feels it is time to move on.

While Carlow begin the process of seeking a new coach, Thurbon has given an undertaking to stay at the club to help with pre-season training but will not be in charge at the start of the new campaign in the autumn.

Carlow's PRO, Harry Southern, confirmed Thurbon's intention to leave to ireland.comthis afternoon.

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"Kim has decided to go," said Southern. "The decision has been entirely his own and in his point of view he felt it was time for a new challenge."

"After three years in any job it’s only natural that any coach would look at his position and ask themselves ‘where do I go from here’," he added.

Carlow enjoyed a breakneck start to the season, winning four and drawing one of their opening six matches and were briefly top of the league.

But a horrendous losing streak, stretching from December 8th until the last game of the season when the club stared down the barrel of relegation, saw them slide dramatically down the pecking order to finish third from bottom, just avoiding demotion to Division Two.

Noel O'Reilly

Noel O'Reilly

Noel O'Reilly is Sports Editor of The Irish Times