Vincent Hurley set to take up coaching role with Douglas hurlers

Vincent Hurley is set to become coach of the Douglas senior hurling team for the coming season.

The former Courcey Rovers player – a two-time All-Ireland intermediate hurling medallist with Cork in the early 2000s – was part of the Cork U20 management team under Noel Furlong last year and a minor selector in John Meyler's minor set-up in 2024.

Prior to that, he had undertaken coaching roles with Newcestown, Ballinascarthy and Éire Óg. Douglas clubman Ken St Ledger and Teddy O’Donovan will be part of the management group, too.

Hurley succeeds Fergus Ryan, the Mallow native who was in charge of the city side last year, while Martin Coleman Jr was at the helm in 2024, taking over from Denis O’Riordan.

In 2025, the southsiders enjoyed an encouraging campaign in Division 1 of the RedFM Hurling League last year and went into the final round of fixtures with a chance of making the final, ultimately finishing in a three-way tie on 11 points behind Sarsfields and St Finbarr’s.

Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t carry their form into the Co-op SuperStores Premier SHC, losing to city rivals St Finbarr’s in their opener and Blackrock in the last group game – though, in between, a good comeback to earn a draw in their second outing against Kanturk ensured they weren’t dragged into the relegation play-off.

It was the second year in a row that they failed to get out of their group – prior to that, the first four seasons after the introduction of the group-stage format had seen them reach the quarter-finals.

For the coming year, Douglas have been drawn in a group featuring champions Sarsfields and north Cork duo Charleville and Newtownshandrum. Their opening game is against Newtown in Ballyhooly on Friday, July 31, while their league campaign begins with an away game against Killeagh on Sunday, March 8.