Near mythical Harty Cup is a breeding ground and rite of passage

The Harty Cup has always had a capacity to invade the hearts and minds of those far beyond the playing pitch.

Aibhe Power of Thurles CBS tracks the run of Tony Kelly of St. Flannan's Ennis in a 2010 Harty Cup match at Cloughaun, Limerick. Picture: Dan Linehan

Before the Covid hurling championship began in 2020, one of the concerns was that a winter campaign on dodgy pitches in unforgiving weather conditions would limit the product as a spectacle. Would it even be conducive for hurling? How would a winter game impact on the elite players?

Elite players thrive in any conditions, which Tony Kelly proved with a series of devastating displays across that winter. Kelly had previously shown how effective he was in more testing conditions when driving Ballyea to county titles in 2016 and 2018, and to an All-Ireland club final in 2017. And in that 2020 championship, Kelly routed the theory that he is more suited to a harder sod on a boiling summer’s afternoon.