The race for the Atty Hearty Cup begins this Friday evening, with 16 Armagh clubs launching their bids for Intermediate Championship glory. The 2026 Cormac Leonard Commercials Intermediate Championship will be played across four groups of four, with the group winners progressing directly to the quarter-finals.
Second- and third-placed teams will have to navigate a preliminary quarter-final play-off to join the four group winners in the last eight. The competition follows a dramatic 2025 campaign in which High Moss Sarsfields defeated St Paul’s of Lurgan to lift the trophy for the third time. Derrytrasna will compete at Senior grade this year, while Taghnevan return to the Intermediate Championship after years of disappointment in the decider.
Group A: Forkhill, Grange, Keady and Whitecross
Forkhill enter after finishing seventh in Division 2A, avoiding relegation while recording four league wins. Managed by Peadar Ó Doirnín, the side features former county stars Jamar Hall and Stephen Sheridan and will hope its blend of youth and experience can carry it into the knockout rounds. Injuries have disrupted the campaign at times.
Grange narrowly missed out on league silverware but made a strong impression in Division 2B. The Colmcille’s men were the division’s highest scorers, registering 300 scores across 14 matches. They reached the semi-finals last year before losing to eventual champions Sarsfields and will now look to go one step further.
Keady finished fourth in Division 2A behind Pearse Og, St Peter’s and Derrynoose, with eight wins and 246 points. St Paul’s eliminated them in last year’s quarter-final at Abbey Park in Armagh City. Keady have already defeated Forkhill twice in the league and will meet them again in Keady on Saturday, August 29, although their opening fixture comes away to Grange this Saturday.
Whitecross finished mid-table in Division 2B with six wins and eight defeats. Eamon Reavey’s St Killian’s side will enter as the bottom seed, but league wins over Annaghmore, Clonmore and An Port Mór, together with a positive scoring difference, offer encouragement.
Group B: Clonmore, Belleek, Pearse Og and Wolfe Tones
Last year’s Junior Championship winners Clonmore face a difficult assignment after a testing Division 2B season. They are grouped with two league winners and begin against Belleek on Sunday afternoon, when two points could prove important in the battle for third place.
Belleek also endured a challenging league campaign in Division 2A, with injuries affecting the Laurence O’Toole’s men. County midfielder Callum O’Neill will lead the team, while Michael Finnegan and Sean McCreesh, an Armagh minor coach, are also identified as key players.
Pearse Og carry the favourites’ tag after winning Division 2A and securing promotion back to Senior football for next season. They lost only once, scored 317 times and found the net 40 times in 12 matches, although they went without a goal in their first two league games. They open against Wolfe Tones on Sunday afternoon.
Derrymacash’s Wolfe Tones won Division 2B by a single point from Grange and two from Shane O’Neill’s. A final-day victory over Clonmore secured the club’s first silverware under manager Jonathon McCarron. The Tones will aim to add championship success against Pearse Og.
Groups C and D bring heavyweight tests
Group C contains An Port Mór, Derrynoose, Shane O’Neill’s and St Paul’s. An Port Mór were relegated to Junior alongside Clonmore but recorded two wins and three draws in Division 2B, including a draw with Wolfe Tones. Derrynoose finished behind Pearse Og and St Peter’s in Division 2A, recording eight wins and a draw despite the club’s dual commitments in the Senior Hurling Championship.
Shane O’Neill’s last won the Atty Hearty Cup in 2022, beating St Paul’s with a last-second goal. They finished two points behind Wolfe Tones in the league and collected 10 victories. St Paul’s, meanwhile, have lost five of the last six Intermediate finals. Their recent setbacks include last year’s defeat by Sarsfields and a last-minute loss to Carrickcruppen the year before. Eoin McConville and Andrew Murnin will be among the leaders of a squad hoping to end that run.
Group D is made up of Annaghmore, Ballymacnab, St Peter’s and Tir na nÓg. Annaghmore recorded six wins and two draws in Division 2B, but will miss Tomás McCormack while he spends the summer in America. Ballymacnab retained its Division 2A status with seven wins and seven defeats. Rory Grugan is expected to be available despite a hamstring injury, while Ryan Watters, Dan O’Toole, Oisin McGivern and goalkeeper Conor McGivern are highlighted as important players.
St Peter’s finished second to Pearse Og after losing only twice in Division 2A. The Lurgan side also drew confidence from taking eventual Senior Championship finalists Cullyhanna to extra-time in last year’s quarter-final. Ruairi McDonald will lead the attack alongside former Armagh players Niall McConville and Aaron Findon, making St Peter’s a widely fancied contender.
Portadown’s Tir na nÓg avoided relegation to Junior football with a sixth-place finish in Division 2B. Oisin Conaty’s return could strengthen a team that failed to progress from last year’s group stage. Their decisive Group D meeting with Annaghmore is scheduled for Sunday, August 30, at 2pm. The sides meet on the final day of the round-robin stage, after Tir na nÓg defeated Annaghmore in the final league round.