Jack Leahy integral to Imokilly's 2025 fortunes but Watergrasshill 'a huge loss'

Jack Leahy is a name that Cork fans have known for a while – and for good reason.

In 2021, the Dungourney man starred for the Cork minors, scoring 4-41 in four games as they routed Clare, Limerick, Waterford and Galway to end a 20-year wait for the All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship.

He was unsurprisingly crowned Player of the Year following that campaign.

He starred again with the U20s in the years since and has already established himself as one of Dungourney’s best players.

But in 2024, Leahy’s game took a leap forward.

The highlight of the calendar year was always going to be winning that first premier senior hurling title, but his success with Imokilly was more than that.

For one, Leahy looked completely at ease playing Premier Senior. More so than the year prior.

Because that was so clear, it was unsurprising to see he was trusted with the free taking duties – and less of a shock that he excelled.

Leahy’s free-taking is already of an exceptional standard – but it’s an area of his game that he continues to improve each season.

“It’s something that I’ve been given the responsibility of from a young age, U14, U15 – probably even younger,” Leahy begins. “With Kiltha Óg, it’s something I’ve been doing since then.

Whenever I’m free in my own time, I head over to Dungourney GAA and practice a few myself.

“I’d be the same when I’m training, get over early, 10 or 15 frees before training and maybe 10 or 15 frees after. It’s all about finding the routine, and that’s what worked for me.

CONDITIONS

“Practicing in those [wet] conditions, when I’m over in Dungourney, it’s not always sunny!” he remarks. “Whatever the conditions are, I’ll still go over to the pitch and just practice in bad conditions as well. Sometimes it can be a bit of luck, you’ve just got to practice in all sorts of conditions.” 

That preparation certainly paid off, with Leahy named Player of the Match in the final against Sarsfields as the division claimed a historic victory.

“It was unbelievable, it topped off a brilliant year with Imokilly.

“We were very disappointed with how the last two years panned out; we were just delighted to get over the line this year,” he says. “We just took it game by game; it was definitely a lot easier.” 

After 2024’s success the focus is again on retaining the title – but the loss of Imokilly’s Watergrasshill contingent following their promotion to Senior A makes that task much more challenging.

“There’s no denying it, they’re going to be a huge loss,” Leahy admits. “What they’ve done for us over the last three years even – they’re our standout players every game, and you can see what they’re doing with their own club.

“They are very good players, but we’re lucky we have seven or eight players on the bench who are fighting for starting places, so the competition is still going to be there.

“With the competition we have on the bench, and the players coming through – we’ll have one target. 

That will be to retain the title.

“It might be a lot more difficult without them [Watergrasshill players] but that’s going to be our aim anyway; it will be nothing less.”