Back in October, The Harps overcame Abbeyleix in an 11 goal thrilling Minor Hurling Final to claim the title for the first time since 2019.
The Harps 7-15 Abbeyleix 4-12
Minor A Hurling Championship Final
The Harps overturned a six-point first half deficit to come out on top by 12 points against Abbeyleix in a truly amazing minor final.
Justin Duggan and Eoin Delaney were outstanding for The Harps as they combined for an incredible 5-4 from play.
Cormac Byrne led the way for Abbeyleix early on as they charged into a six point lead. The Harps battled their way back with 1-3 on the trot and found themselves in the lead by a point at half time.
Eoin Delaney did the damage for The Harps in the first half with 2-3 and Justin Duggan took the reins for the second as he hammered home three goals from play.
The Harps were unstoppable in the second half as they took full control and hit 4-7 to Abbeyleix’s 1-5.
The full forwards Cormac Byrne and Justin Duggan traded scores from frees in the opening three minutes in a quick start to the contest.
Just a minute later Byrne got the game’s opening goal with a fantastic low finish after a quick pass inside by Calum Costigan and Joe Cole increased the lead to four with a point.
The action was non stop early on as with the next attack The Harps rattled in a goal of their own by way of an excellent finish from Eoin Delaney.
Delaney was in again moments later when a long ball broke over the top and he won the race to gather it before beautifully batting the ball off the turf and into the net.
The hits kept coming as seconds later the ball was back down at the town end and Jack O’Dea hit a rasper of a shot that was saved but rebounded to the incoming Calum Costigan who stroked it home to make the score 2-2 to 2-1 in favour of Abbeyleix after 10 minutes.
Byrne followed with a free for Abbeyleix and Ben O’Mara added another in response to a monster score from Tony Mahony.
Abbeyleix hit the net for a third time on 12 minutes when Cormac Byrne took advantage of a defensive mishap and buried it before Cole launched over his second of the game.
The Harps trailed by six points but that lead was cut to three thanks to two exquisite points from Eoin Delaney and an Eoghan Murphy free.
Mark Downey levelled the game with the best of the six goals in the opening 20 minutes as he caught the ball with his back to goal before turning, running and lashing it into the top corner.
Eli Quinn took possession from a throw in and tore down the field before striking over from inside the 45 and Downey responded to make the sides level once again on 24 minutes.
The Harps finished the half the stronger of the two with a pointed free from Murphy and a brilliant point from Delaney, bringing his first half total to 2-3.
Byrne replied with a free for Abbeyleix before the break, but after leading by six midway through the half they went in one down, 3-8 to 3-7.
After early wides from both sides Cormac Byrne got the opener in the second half with a free on 35 minutes. It didn’t take long for the second score to come as Justin Duggan gained possession straight from the puckout andran inside before rattling the net.
After a slow start to the scoring Downey added his second point of the game to increase The Harps lead to four before Duggan made it five with a free.
Dan Jones was introduced for Abbeyleix on 37 minutes and pointed with his first possession.
Duggan got his second goal of the game minutes later when he plucked a fizzed pass from Jack Kennedy out wide and turned his man on a sixpence before racing inside and finishing to put seven between the sides.
He added another score to his tally from out on the sideline as The Harps started to gain full control of the game at the midway point in the second half.
The long range frees for Eoghan Murphy increased The Harps’ lead to 11 points heading for the final 10 minutes.
After a scoreless 14 minutes for Abbeyleix Cormac Byrne ended the drought with a free on 52, but that was made redundant seconds later with a third brilliant goal by Duggan, completing his second half hattrick.
Ross Deegan made it seven goals for The Harps with a brilliant finish after a quick break down field to put the game beyond reasonable doubt.
Cormac Byrne was incredible for Abbeyleix throughout the game and he capped off his excellent performance with another goal and two points from play late in the game, but there was little Abbeyleix could do to quell the fantastic Harps.
SCORERS – Abbeyleix: Cormac Byrne 3-7 (0-4 frees, 0-1 65), Joe Cole 0-2, Calum Costigan 1-0, Ben O’Mara 0-1, Dan Jones 0-1, Eli Quinn 0-1. The Harps: Eoin Delaney 2-3, Justin Duggan 3-3 (0-2 frees), Eoghan Murphy 0-5 (frees), Mark Downey 1-2, Ross Deegan 1-0, Tony Mahony 0-1.
ABBEYLEIX: Evan Gilnagh; Fionn O’Sullivan, Luke Byrne, Eoghan Prendergast; Riain Mahony, Eli Quinn, Daniel Bergin; Ethan Robertson, Stephen O’Donnell; Joe Cole, Ben O’Mara, Jack O’Dea; Calum Costigan, Cormac Byrne, Liam O’Keeffe. Subs: Dan Jones for Prendergast (37), Cathal Noone for L Byrne (52), Jake Keane for Cole (55), Tadgh Fahy for Costigan (60)
THE HARPS: Ethan Lafferty; Ned Duggan, Cormac Dunne, Shane Shortall; Tony Mahony, Eoghan Murphy, Hugh Whelan; Donal Deegan, Jack Kennedy; Cole Brennan, Mark Downey, Lochlan Curran; Eoin Delaney, Justin Duggan, Ross Deegan. Subs: Darragh Townsend for Curran (50), Jimmy Whyte for Mahony (53), Aaron Mahon for Shortall (54), Simon Comerford for Delaney (57), John O’Brien for Deegan (60)
REFEREE: Patrick Phelan (Castletown)
SEE ALSO – Check out all of our GAA coverage here
