Laois U-20 hurling panel announced ahead of Leinster Championship opener with Offaly

The 2026 Laois U-20 hurling panel has been revealed by their manager, Derek Delaney. Laois will get their Leinster Championship campaign underway this weekend when they welcome Offaly to Laois Hire O'Moore Park.

The Harps' Eoghan Murphy has been named as the captain, with Ross Deegan and Clough/Ballacolla's Evan Cassin chosen to be the vice-captains for Delaney's side.

Laois and Offaly have been drawn into Group 2 alongside Dublin and Meath. The latter came through Phase 1 of the competition by defeating Antrim on March 23 and Carlow on March 29. The O'Moore County will face Dublin at home in Round 2 on the weekend of April 11/12, before travelling to Meath for the final round on Wednesday, April 22.

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Laois must finish in the top three in the group to qualify. Finishing top would see them straight into a semi-final, while a second-place finish would see them into a home quarter-final against third in Group 1. Third-place would see them have to travel to the second-placed team in Group 1. Whoever finishes bottom of either group will be knocked out of the competition.

Delaney's side reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2025 after they finished third in Group 1 of Tier 1 and played against Kildare, who had come through the Tier 2 competition, in a preliminary quarter-final. They got the better of The Lilywhites before travelling to Wexford Park and leaving with a six-point win. That set up a Leinster semi-final against Kilkenny in Portlaoise, where Kilkenny beat Laois, 0-26 to 1-9.

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LAOIS U-20 HURLING PANEL 2026: Ben Meade (Mountrath), Charlie Hand (Clonad), Conor Headen (Ballypickas), Conor Mortimer (Camross), Conor Ryan (Castletown), Cormac Byrne (Abbeyleix), Cormac Dunne (The Harps), Daniel Jones (Abbeyleix), Daniel Whelan (Castletown), Davy Delaney (Portlaoise), Dion O’Connor (Trumera), Donnchadh Carroll (Mountrath), Donal Deegan (The Harps), Eoghan Murphy (C) (The Harps), Eoin Delaney (The Harps), Evan Cassin (VC) (Clough/Ballacolla), Hugh Whelan (The Harps), Jack Kennedy (The Harps), John Onions (Clonad), Justin Duggan (The Harps), Liam Conroy (Portlaoise), Liam O’Keeffe (Abbeyleix), Mark Downey (The Harps), Matt Cunningham (Park-Ratheniska/Timahoe), Oran Gorman (Rosenallis), Patrick O’Callaghan (Clonad), Pete Culleton (Mountmellick), Ray Goode (Castletown), Rick Bannon (Camross), Ross Deegan (VC) (The Harps), Ruaidhrí Kavanagh (Trumera), Ryan O’Connor (Castletown), Sam Somers (Rosenallis), Stephen O’Donnell (Abbeyleix), Tommy Goode (Castletown), Tony Mahony (The Harps)

Laois v Offaly will throw-in at 2pm on Saturday, April 4, in Laois Hire O'Moore Park, Portlaoise.