Eire Ogs hurlers looking to fresh challenges in Ulster

A FIFTH successive Tyrone hurling success represents the most successful period for the Carrickmore Eire Ogs since the glory days of the eighties when the club captured a record eight Benburb Cup triumphs in a row.

Their 2024 title was, of course, made all the more special by the manner in which it was achieved. For, they had to battle back from commanding deficits in both the first and second half, before two late goals clinched them success number 30 overall in the competition, squeezing past Eoghan Ruadh 3-16 to 3-13 at O’Neill’s Healy Park on Sunday.

Now the focus for them will switch to the Ulster Club championship next month. But there was no doubting the delight of Conor Grogan and the rest of the panel as they celebrating winning with the rest of the panel, family members and fans on the Omagh pitch afterwards.

“It was edge of the seat stuff and I don’t really know how we pulled that win out of the bag”, the half-back said afterwards.

“Fair play to all our players who just kept going right to the finish. Both ourselves and Dungannon really produced a real ding-duster of a battle and fair play to the two sets of players. The game went down to the last seconds.

“I think the score was 1-4 to 0-1 at one stage in the first half. Then we lifted things and went in at half-time a point up. They went ahead, and then we seemed to be able to battle back in the last 15 minutes or so.”

Carrickmore captain, Bryan McGurk, received the Benburb Cup from Tyrone Chairman, Martin Sludden, afterwards. The jubilant Eire Ogs are now preparing for the Ulster Club campaign. which has seen them come agonisingly close in recent years. In 2023 they reached the final, only to lose to Setanta of Donegal.

Needless to say, doing well in the provincial series is going to be another big target for them, according to Conor Grogan.

“Some of the scores and the tackling that we got in this final were top drawer,” he added.

“ We knew that our inside men could do damage if they got the ball. Thankfully we got the scores when it mattered.

“ Sean Paul Begley switched things up this year as well, and we’re just really proud of everyone here.

“ Last year we reached the Ulster Final, and that’s a massive target for us again this year. The County Final was a massive hurdle for us to get over, we’ll move forward now, rest up and then begin our preparations again.

“We know that no game is going to be easy in the provincial championship and we don’t even know how we’re going to be playing yet. Whoever we’re playing we’ll have to be at our best.”

The five in a row success enjoyed by the Eire Ogs is the latest historic triumph for the club which has made huge progress in both hurling and camogie this year.

That fact is not lost on the players and management as they get set to perhaps make 2024 an even better year again.

“We’ve been trying to put four and five titles again for a few years ago now,” added Conor Grogan.

“There’s always a lot of talk about the players who did eight in a row, so this one is a monkey of our backs I suppose. It’s pretty sweet for us to have got this success, but to be honest we’ve also got our eyes set on more and this is just the first part of that. It’s about keeping pushing and pushing for the rest of the year now.”