Brian Hogan

Brian Hogan (born 14 August 1981) is an Irish hurler who currently plays as a centre-back for the Kilkenny senior team.^[1]

Hogan made his first appearance for the team during the 2004 championship and has become a regular player over the last few seasons. During that time he has won five All-Ireland winners' medals, four Leinster winners' medals, two National League winners' medals and one All-Star award. In 2011 Hogan captained the team to the All-Ireland title.

At club level Hogan is a double Leinster medalist with O'Loughlin Gaels. In addition to this he has also won three county championship winners' medals.

Playing career

Club

Hogan plays his club hurling with the O'Loughlin Gaels club in Kilkenny city and has enjoyed much success.

In 2001 Hogan won his first county championship winners' medal following a 1-17 to 1-6 defeat of Graigue-Ballycallan. Not only was it Hogan's first club championship but it was O'Loughlin Gaels' first ever.^[2]

Two years later in 2003 Hogan won a second county championship winners' medal following a defeat of Young Irelands after a draw and a replay.^[3] He later collected a first Leinster club winners' medal following a 0-15 to 0-9 defeat of double All-Ireland champions Birr.^[4]

After a hiatus of seven years and a defeat in the 2006 championship decider, O'Loughlin Gaels reached the top of the pile once again in 2010 following a 0-17 to 1-11 defeat of Carrickshock. It was Hogan's third county championship winners' medal.^[5] O'Loughlin Gaels later secured a second Leinster club title following a 0-14 to 1-8 defeat of Oulart-the-Ballagh.^[6] Hogan's side subsequently qualified for an All-Ireland final showdown with Clarinbridge. A dominant second-half display gave Clarinbridge a 2-18 to 0-12 victory.^[7]

Inter-county

Hogan first came to prominence on the inter-county scene when he joined the Kilkenny senior team in 2004. He made his championship debut at left wing-back in a Leinster semi-final defeat by Wexford. That defeat ended Hogan's involvement as a member of the starting fifteen for the rest of the season, and Kilkenny subsequently failed to capture a third All-Ireland title.

The next two seasons saw Hogan remain with the Kilkenny senior team, albeit as a fringe player. He came on as a substitute in the All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Galway in 2005 and at the same stage against Clare in 2006, but played no part in Kilkenny's subsequent All-Ireland final defeat of Cork.

In 2007 Hogan replaced John Tennyson to become Kilkenny's first-choice centre-back. He won his first Leinster winners' medal on the field of play following a 2-24 to 1-12 demolition of Wexford. He subsequently lined out in his first All-Ireland final, with Limerick providing the opposition. Kilkenny got off to a flying start with Eddie Brennan and Henry Shefflin combining to score two goals within the first ten minutes, eventually culminating in a 2–19 to 1–15 victory. It was Hogan's first All-Ireland winners' medal on the field of play.

Hogan retained his place at centre-back in 2008, as Kilkenny launched an all-out attack in an attempt to capture a third All-Ireland title in-a-row. He collected a second Leinster winners' medal after a 5–21 to 0–17 defeat of Wexford in the provincial final, before later lining out in his second All-Ireland decider. Waterford provided the opposition, however, Kilkenny recorded an enormous 3–30 to 1–13 victory. It was a second All-Ireland winners' medal for Hogan.

In 2009 Hogan won his first National Hurling League winners' medal following a thrilling 4-17 to 2-26 defeat of Tipperary. The game was not without incident as Hogan was forced to leave the field with a suspected collarbone injury. As a result of this he missed the provincial campaign, however, he returned in time for Kilkenny's All-Ireland semi-final defeat of Waterford. The subsequent All-Ireland final was a repeat of the National League final with Kilkenny taking on Tipperary. For much of the match it looked as if Tipp would pull off a shock and deny 'the Cats' a record-equaling four-in-a-row. Two quick goals in the space of a minute, one from a penalty by Henry Shefflin, sealed a 2–22 to 0–23 victory. It was the fourth time in-a-row that the famed Liam MacCarthy Cup was presented to a Kilkenny team while Hogan collected his third All-Ireland winners' medal.

Hogan added a third Leinster winners' medal to his collection in 2010 following a 1-19 to 1-12 defeat of new provincial rivals Galway. In the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final defeat of Cork, Hogan sustained an injury that ruled him out of the All-Ireland final showdown with Tipperary. Kilkenny faced a number of other injuries going into that game and failed in their 'drive for five' as Tipp won by 4-17 to 1-18.

In 2011 Hogan was appointed captain of the Kilkenny senior hurling team for the year. 'The Cats' continued their provincial dominance with Hogan winning a fourth Leinster winners' medal following a defeat of Dublin.^[8] Kilkenny later qualified for a sixth consecutive All-Ireland final. For the third year in succession Hogan's side faced Tipperary, however, on this occasion Kilkenny were slight underdogs going up against the new champions. Kilkenny started quickly and never surrendered the lead in the 2-17 to 1-16 victory.^[9] It was Hogan's fourth All-Ireland winners' medal while he also had the honour of collecting the MacCarthy Cup as captain.

2012 saw Hogan begin the year by picking up another National League medal following 3-21 to 0-16 trouncing of Cork.^[10] After losing the Leinster final to GAlway, both sides subsequently met in the All-Ireland decider and Galway nearly pulled off a victory courtesy of goals from Joe Canning and Niall Burke. A 2-13 to 0-19 draw was the result, a first drawn All-Ireland final in over half a century.^[11] The replay saw Kilkenny claim a 3-22 to 3-11 victory, with Hogan picking up a fifth All-Ireland winners' medal.^[12]

2013 saw the end of an era with Kilkenny not reaching the All-Ireland Semi Final for the first time since 1996. Kilkenny lost to Cork in the Quarter Final.

Inter-provincial

Hogan also had the honour of lining out for Leinster in the Interprovincial Championship. He secured a winners' medal in this competition in 2012 following a 2-19 to 1-15 defeat of Connacht.

References