The Harps manager Ken Hogan relishing chance to make history in Laois SHC final

Ken Hogan, manager of The Harps, admits he is enjoying every minute of his time with the club as they prepare to contest their first Laois Senior Hurling Championship final in 28 years.

The former Tipperary goalkeeper took charge at the beginning of the year and has guided The Harps to Sunday's decider against Camross at Laois Hire O'Moore Park, with the club now just one win away from winning their first-ever Laois Senior Hurling Championship.

Hogan's side endured a difficult start to the campaign when they were beaten by Camross in the opening round, leaving them with little room for error in the remaining group games. However, they responded to that setback, negotiated a challenging route through the championship and subsequently overcame Borris-Kilcotton in the quarter-final before defeating three-in-a-row chasing Clough/Ballacolla in the semi-final.

For Hogan, who makes the journey from Tipperary, reaching the final represents a welcome reward for the commitment shown by the players throughout the season.

"Any time you take over a team, you're ambitious for the team and try to get the team going. I went to the county under-20 final; that was my first time seeing The Harps and the Harps’ colours and things like that. In that situation, you know, I'm nearly an hour from there. A big decision for me to go over there because I don't like travelling too far at this stage of my life. Now that it’s happened, I'm glad I went over. I enjoy going over every evening and it's exciting to be there at this stage. So from my point of view, everything is a bonus when you start to win. The most important thing for us was the group stages because obviously it's a different situation in Laois, maybe, to other counties, in that you play across the groups. I found that very strange in a championship situation that would occur. You were striving for points the whole time. We played Camross in the first round of the championship and we were well beaten on the day. It meant then that we were chasing points; we were under pressure for every game to get points on the board. That was the biggest challenge right through the year," said Hogan.

The opening-round defeat to Camross meant The Harps had to produce a series of results to keep their championship hopes alive. Victories over Abbeyleix, Portlaoise, Rosenallis and Ballinakill became increasingly important, with the latter particularly significant given the circumstances surrounding the final group fixture.

Hogan felt the format placed his side under considerable pressure, especially when they were required to play before knowing what results would be needed elsewhere.

"Must-win. Abbeyleix, Portlaoise, Rosenallis and then Ballinakill, who had beaten the lads last year as well. Abbeyleix had beaten them as well. That Ballinakill match, they were fighting to stay in the championship and we were fighting to try and qualify. We were out on the Saturday night. We were basically out first as well. We were lambs to the slaughter in the sense that if it didn't work out for us, then everybody else knew the results they needed to get through. Thankfully the lads responded, and did well on the night against Ballinakill. From that perspective, I just found it very strange, like the whole situation of being under that incessant pressure to get through. To get out of the group for us was important. If we didn't get out of the group, I'd probably be at home now in Lorrha and it'd be over and out, simple as that. That's the joys of knockout hurling," Hogan said.

Once The Harps had secured their place in the knockout stages, the focus turned to Borris-Kilcotton, a club Hogan knows well after spending two years working with the team.

"You take one step at a time. The quarter-final against Borris-Kilcotton. Obviously, I've got a lot of great friends in Borris-Kilcotton, great players. I had him for two years and worked with themright through, so I had mixed emotions about that situation. We've a young team and we're trying to get on the map. We're training well. We had to play well in that quarter-final. It was a tense game coming up to the last ten minutes. The important thing is to try and finish as well as you possibly can, and thankfully we saw it out," said Hogan.

Their semi-final victory over Clough/Ballacolla was an even more significant milestone, as the reigning champions were attempting to secure a third consecutive title and their sixth in seven years.

Hogan was particularly pleased with the resilience shown by his players, while the contribution of the substitutes proved important as the game entered its decisive stages.

"I think someone said to me afterwards that it was a seven-point breeze. We were up six at half-time, so people probably don't realise that. The breeze was blowing into the Town End. You’re always under a little bit of pressure and obviously the 21-yard free then and Picky, no better man to bury it and put it back in the melting pot when we were six up. Balls hit the post, and balls landed short. It was just one of those games that we just had to grind out and see out. We've trained for that. We've worked in those situations and I've just thought the lads showed great resilience. We brought in a few substitutes. Tiarnach, Mark Downey and John Brophy all contributed as well, to try and calm the situation a bit," Hogan commented.

Hogan also highlighted the collective effort within the panel, pointing to the importance of having players ready to contribute when called upon.

"From our perspective, we've had a group of players there; we have 32 in the panel and they have strived every night to do as best they can. Every last player is working for one another and when you have that type of spirit coming into a championship. Then when it comes to the grindstone, you've got to have fellas that can stand up and be counted. We've used a few different subs at different times that might not have seen action before, so that's a help to us," he added.

That depth has been built over the course of the season, with The Harps also reaching a county final at Intermediate level. Those players were particularly important during the early months of the campaign when several members of the senior panel were involved with Laois.

Hogan believes the commitment shown by those players helped establish a strong foundation for the season ahead.

"Great competition and a great group of players as well. We had nine players on the under-20 panel and I think we had four on the senior panel. We were playing league games early on in the year and we relied on all those players to play in the league. I think it stood to them as well, but they were all there; they were all committed to what we needed and we always had the 20 players on the line, even in those league games, without our county players. From that perspective, when you go down to Cullohill in the first week in February, you need a core group of players there. There was that core of 20, 25 players still training, even though we had maybe a lot of guys not involved because of their county commitments," Hogan said.

Standing between The Harps and a first senior championship title in 28 years are Camross, the most successful club in Laois hurling with 27 senior titles to their name.

"One of my favourite clubs is Camross. I've seen him down through the years, a rural club with great spirit, but also a huge tradition. Only last week, there was an 80th birthday party for Damien Martin of Offaly. I met Martin Cuddy and Johnny Carroll as a child; I remember Johnny Carroll playing in the goals for Camross, and he was an unbelievable goalkeeper. The tradition, they have Leinster Club Championships won. They played in All-Ireland Club Championships, so there's a huge tradition there in Camross, and they absolutely love their hurling. We played him in the league final, and we played him in the championship. We were licking our wounds afterwards, because they have a lovely style of hurling. They're playing a great brand of hurling as well, and we know it's going to be a tough ask, but we're just taking one step at a time now. Obviously, the lads are sore after Sunday, trying to get the lads back on the pitch again, get them off the treatment table and get them fresh and hungry for Sunday week. We're just looking forward to the whole build-up as well," Hogan concluded.