Big weekend ahead as league takes shape
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
St Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League
Round Up
Two rounds done and dusted in the 2026 St Canice’s Credit Union Senior Hurling League and things are beginning to take shape and this weekend’s fixtures will certainly leave supporters better placed to judge how things are going on Noreside. Four teams have positive 100% records going into the round 3, Shamrocks Ballyhale, Tullaroan, Thomastown and Graigue Ballycallan, while Glenmore remain unbeaten on completion of the first two sets of games. On the other side of the coin, a quartet of sides have nothing to show for their efforts so far, Dicksboro, Danesfort, Clara and Bennettsbridge.
In Group A, there were wins for Thomastown and Graigue Ballycallan over Mullinavat and Clara respectively, while Glenmore finished strongly to defeat Bennettsbridge. Meanwhile in Group B, Shamrocks Ballyhale and Tullaroan made it two from two with wins over O’Loughlin Gaels and Dicksboro while Erin’s Own got the better of Danesfort in the first serving of the round 2 fixtures.
Tullaroan was the venue for the Castlecomer sides clash with Danesfort, and there were only 2 points to separate the sides at full-time. Jack Buggy hit 0-7, while Conor McMahon had a great game, notching 2-2 from his midfield berth, including an injury time major, while Brennan’s Eoin and Michael contributed eight points between them as Erin’s Own showed great character to claw back a 7-point deficit. This game also included an own goal, a rare sight in the small ball game, but the men in black and amber will be disappointed not to have gotten something from this game.
The men from Tom Ryall Park inflicted a second defeat on Clara when the sides met in Gowran. Again, it was the accuracy of Aaron McEvoy who finished his shift with 0-11 that helped GBC finish 5 points ahead of the opposition, who had good performances from Paul Cody and Conor O’Shea in defeat. Patrick Foley hit 1-2 while Jesse Roberts notched a couple of goods scores for the sky blues. Meanwhile in Páirc Lachtain, Tullaroan built on their opening day win by defeating Dicksboro by 6 points, last week’s main man, Dylan Simpson hitting another 0-8, while goalkeeper Niall Holland showed his worth, registering 0-5. Mossy Keoghan, Gearoid Dunne and Tomas Dunne also contributed to help Dave Mulcahy’s side secure a second victory. Shane Stapleton top scored for the ‘Boro, while Liam Moore found the net, but the early loss of young Patrick Lacey and later Tom McPhillips hampered Eamon Jackman’s side, but the Palmerstown based outfit know they will need to get a win soon to avoid getting involved in relegation clashes down the road.
Páirc na Seamróg hosted the meeting of Thomastown and Mullinavat, and it was the former that were worthy 9-point winners at the long whistle. The Donnelly’s were responsible for nine of their sides’ first half total of thirteen, and seven of eleven second period scores as they pulled away from The Vegas Boys after the interval, Robbie Donnelly impressing with 1-9. The Vat had good showings from Oisin Knox (0-5), sub Conor Power (0-3) while captain Tom Aylward notched their goal.
The final action of round 2 saw the meeting of Glenmore and Bennettsbridge at picturesque Inistioge. The sides were level at the interval, wing back Darragh Hartley raising the green flag for the South Kilkenny side, while five scores from James Hughes meant there was nothing between the sides going into the second half. When Sean Morrissey put the ‘Bridge three ahead after 43 minutes, it looked like the hooped side were going to pull away, but two quickfire goals from Jason Cody and captain Ian Byrne saw the Pairc na Ratha men go five up and they kept the scoreboard ticking over and despite David Blanchfoelds injury time goal, Glenmore had six to spare at the long whistle.
