Ken Hogan’s Harps side first up in O’Moore Park
BY NIALL SHERRY, SPORTS EDITOR
SPORTSEDITOR@KILKENNYOBSERVER.IE
AIB Leinster Club Senior Hurling Championship 2026
The Harps vs Shamrocks Ballyhale
Mark Aylward will lead his beloved Shamrocks Ballyhale into a provincial campaign for the first time on Sunday, knowing that any opponent faced in Leinster, will want to try and claim the scalp of the Kilkenny champions. First up to attempt to derail the charge of the Noresiders will be the Laois County champions, The Harps, who will welcome the 12-times O’Neill Cup winners to O’Moore Park, having been crowned senior hurling champions for the first time last month. The man at the helm of the Laois side, Ken Hogan, is no stranger to glory, and he will be keen to ensure his charges provide a stern test for Aylward’s team when they roll into Portlaoise on Sunday.
Hogan, a Tipperary native has impressively overseen eight senior title wins, across five clubs in two counties, Laois and Offaly, and oversaw St Rynagh’s run when they claimed three on the bounce in the Faithful County, either side of the pandemic. The former intercounty netminder almost spearheaded a shock for the Banagher side in 2021, when they nearly toppled James O’Connor’s Ballyhale side in the Leinster semifinal, going down in extra time to the soon-to-be O’Neill Cup winners. However, the Lorrha clubman has tasted provincial glory, guiding Offaly side, Coolderry to the title in 2011 by defeating Oulart–The Ballagh in the decider.
The Harps club was formed in the mid-80’s, a result of an amalgamation between the villages of Durrow and Cullohill. While a maiden victory was achieved with an impressive 16-point win over Camross, the seeds sown, which include a raft of juvenile success and four consecutive U20 titles are now appearing to bear fruit for this young squad under the guidance of the well-respected former All-Star and Liam MacCarthy winner. One of their most experienced players is intercounty star, Podge Delaney, who at 27 is certainly leading by example from centre back. Relegation in 2025 was a tough blow for The Harps, but they have shown great character and belief to bounce back and claim a first ever Bob O’Keefe Cup.
The Laois Shopping Centre Senior Hurling Championship got underway in July, and round 1 would see a dress rehearsal for the final, when Camross and The Harps clashed in O’Moore Park. It would be Tomas Burke’s charges that claimed a second win of the season over Ken Hogan’s team on a scoreline of 2-31 to 5-16, having already won the league final a couple of weeks earlier. The Harps got their first win of the championship when they defeated Abbeyleix St Lazarians by 18 points in round 2. Hogan’s men built on this win by claiming the scalps of Portlaoise, Rosenallis and Baile na Coille CLG to advance to the quarterfinal stages of the competition.
The last-eight fixture saw The Harps take on Borris-Kilcotton in Laois Hire O’Moore Park, and this proved to be a tricky test for Ken Hogan’s men. Midfielder, Ciaran Comerford was scorer in chief, finishing the afternoon with 1-6 to his name and it would be his first half goal, direct from a 21-yard free that gave the Durrow and Cullohill based side a 6-point lead at the short whistle. Aaron Dunphy’s free taking got Borris-Kilcotton back in the game and when the county man rifled over his eleventh of the game, the Harps lead was down to just 2 points. This prompted Hogan’s charges to up the tempo and points from key-man Comerford, James Duggan’s 4th score and a tidy effort from Niall Coss saw the lead back to four points. The insurance score saw a second green flag raised for The Harps. Following a bit of a schemozzle in the danger zone, Hugh Whelan fired beyond the keeper to secure a semifinal berth. Three-in-a-row chasing Clough/Ballacolla was the last four prize for The Harps. Stephen ‘Picky’ Maher led the scoring charge for the holders, notching 2-7, but the legendary Laois hurling star was outshone by teenager Eoin Delaney, who bagged 3-1 in the sensational win over the champions. It looked like extra time was a certainty, but wing back, Eoin Murpy’s booming effort evaded everyone and somehow ended up in the net; fortune favours the brave.
A third meeting of the season with Camross saw The Harps run out on senior final day for the first time since 1998. They played with class and confidence, taking a 6-point lead into the interval, helped by Ross Deegan’s 12th minute goal. Hogan’s outfit continued to push on when play resumed and were rewarded with a second major on 42 minutes, when Ross Deegan combined with Eoin Delaney to set up Justin Duggan who blasted past Tadhg Doran in the Camross goal. The Harps kept pushing and won out by 16 in the end.
The spine of this young Harps team is strong. Goalkeeper, Bobby Murphy has Cody Commerford in front of him and intercounty star Podge Delaney anchoring things from the ‘6’ position. Captain Padraic Dunne, Ross Deegan and place ball specialist, Ciaran Comerford are a fine trio ahead of Podge, while rising teenage star, Eoin Delaney announced his arrival with that hattrick of goals to dethrone the champions while Duggan’s James and Justin are dangerous operators in the final third.
Shamrocks will travel to Laois Hire O’Moore Park full of confidence, having claimed their 22nd Tom Walsh Cup with a 22-point thrashing of Tullaroan. With TJ Reid’ sole focus on his parish now, this Ballyhale outfit will be hoping and expecting to kick-on in Leinster. Having had a couple of baron years, there appears to be a fresh hunger and desire in South Kilkenny, the fire reignited by their favourite son, Henry Shefflin. Big shoes to fill but step forward Mark Aylward. Having served under Henry, Mark has injected some of his own ethos into this Shamrocks panel, and they are reaping the rewards of that.
Defending the crown that Henry won has been achieved, so now onto provincial matters. Last year’s heartbreaking defeat to Wexford side, St Martin’s has been banished and all eyes are on The Harps on Sunday. The Shamrocks defensive unit, commanded by the classy Joey Holden, will need to be on their toes to manage the Laois sides attacking threat. The much talked about half back line delivered a rounded performance in the downing of The Sash, Darragh Corcoran and Richie Reid simply outstanding. Killian’s Corcoran and Ryan are becoming regular fixtures in the defence, and will look to continue that form in O’Moore Park on Sunday. The midfield will look to dominate their opponents, and Ronan Corcoran will be central to this. Adrian Mullen and Eoin Cody were regular visitors to the middle third of the pitch, and this was key in the dismantling of Tullaroan as both reveled during the UPMC Nowlan Park encounter.
There will possibly be more eyes on TJ this Sunday than usual, given his decision to bring down the curtain on his glittering intercounty career with Kilkenny. TJ remains a vital cog in the Shamrocks machine, and you can bet that his name will appear as one of the top scorers in the Leinster quarterfinal. His aerial prowess is still first class, as is his ability to bring others into play. TJ is as happy to provide as he is to score, and that is a great string to Ballyhale’s bow. Niall Shortall will fancy his chances of adding to his scoring tally against The Harps and will look to raise the colour green again. There are two players that get through a mountain of work each time they pull on the Shamrocks shirt, and go about their shift quietly, but most importantly, effectively. Step forward Brian Cody and Liam Barron. The former is a frequent name on the scoresheet, and likes to power forward at every opportunity, while the latter does a lot of the ‘dirty work’ and is frequently involved in linking the play and getting the ball to the likes of TJ, Eoin Cody, Adrian Mullen and Niall Shortall, who usually get the scores.
Sunday is another opportunity for the Shamrocks to show the hurling family that they are hungry again and want to achieve O’Neill Cup number 13. They won’t underestimate The Harps and will have their homework done. All aboard the Shamrocks Express, next stop, Portlaoise.
Ádh mór to all Noreside representatives in provincial action this weekend. At Intermediate level, Eoin Larkin’s James Stephen’s outfit take on Wexford side Cloughbawn in UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday (1:30pm) and should advance to the last four if they continue their fine form. Meanwhile, Glenisk O’Connor Park, Tullamore is the venue for Junior provincial action as Conahy Shamrocks make the journey to the Faithful County to face Mucklagh, Rahan & The Island based side Shamrocks. In big ball action on Sunday are the footballers of Mullinavat who will take on Duleek-Bellewstown GFC at John Locke Park Callan.
