Hogan salutes The Harps’ unsung heroes after their victory over Camross in Sunday’s final

The Harps manager, Ken Hogan, hailed his players and the wider club after they made history by winning the Laois Senior Hurling Championship for the first time ever on Sunday afternoon.

The Harps produced a stunning performance at Laois Hire O’Moore Park to defeat Camross by 16 points and claim the Bob O’Keeffe Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

Camross came into the final as Laois hurling’s dominant force, having won the senior championship on 27 occasions, but The Harps produced a performance to remember to bring the famous trophy back to Cullohill-Durrow.

For Hogan, who took charge of the team at the start of the year, it was the culmination of a remarkable season for the club.

“It's a dream come true. The players themselves have been unbelievable. I just facilitated the whole situation. They gave me unbelievable commitment to both Dylan Murphy, down in the field in Cullohill, to Brian Carroll, our coach, Conor Murphy, of course, and Noel Delaney, our two selectors. A brilliant club led by Richie Comerford. Everybody has contributed to this in a big way, so from that perspective, I'm just delighted to be involved,” Hogan said.

The margin of victory was ultimately emphatic, but Hogan admitted he was unable to appreciate just how comprehensive the win was while watching from the sideline.

The Harps had to withstand periods of pressure from Camross after half-time, with Hogan particularly pleased that his side managed to keep their opponents from finding the net.

“I didn't even know we won by that margin because I couldn't relax. Because when you're with a young group of players and you saw Zane Keenan there going for goals after half-time, the lads kept it out. It's just great to keep the clean sheet. I never relax because you're trying to keep the lads going and keep hurling. The only way they can hurl is at that tempo. We had the youth, we had the hunger, we had the drive, and finally, we had the belief. The belief was the big thing,” he said.

The Harps’ senior triumph capped a huge year for the club, with the intermediate side also reaching a county final.

Hogan was keen to pay tribute to the players from that Intermediate team who played throughout the league with several members of the senior panel being involved with Laois at under-20 and senior level.

“It's a great feeling. It's a job well done. I think for the players themselves, we got to the intermediate final as well in the county championship. That was no mean feat, from our point of view, to get to the county final in the intermediate. When we had eight guys with the county 20s and we had four guys with the county seniors, they were the guys that filled the spaces on the team, playing every league match. We had 33 on the panel today and we had an extended panel. Those guys are the unsung heroes of the club,” he added.

There was also a special mention for some of the club stalwarts who have played such an important role behind the scenes and in the dressing room.

“John ‘Boggy’ Brophy, Pat Walshe, Conor Dunne, Michael ‘Sticks’ Lannigan, who broke his hand. Great people and from that perspective, Conor Dunne, he retired last year, but he came back this year and played. He was a huge influence in the dressing room,” Hogan said.

The Harps are now preparing for their first Leinster Club Championship campaign.

They will face the Kilkenny champions on November 8, with Hogan already having to look into changing his travel plans after discovering the provincial championship will take place while he is due to be abroad visiting his son.

“It's on the 8th of November. I'm actually out of the country to visit my son. I'll be checking out flights to come back and things like that. From our perspective, just absolutely over the moon,” Hogan concluded.