The 2009 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 123rd staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship, the Gaelic Athletic Association's premier inter-county hurling tournament. The draw for the 2000 fixtures took place on 8 October 2008. The championship began on 30 May 2009 and ended on 6 September 2009.
Kilkenny were the defending champions. Antrim and Galway joined the Leinster Championship for the first time.
On 6 September 2009, Kilkenny won the championship following a 2–22 to 0–23 defeat of Tipperary in the All-Ireland final. This was their 32nd All-Ireland title overall, their 7th championship of the decade and a record-equalling fourth All-Ireland title in-a-row.
Galway's Joe Canning was the championship's top scorer with 3–46. Kilkenny's Tommy Walsh won Hurler of the Year.
Provincial changes
Due to a lack of competition in their own respective provinces, Antrim and Galway pushed for entry to the Leinster Championship. At a special meeting of Congress on 4 October 2008, delegates voted to include Galway and Antrim in a restructured Leinster Championship on a trial basis for three years. Dublin, Wexford and Offaly spoke against the move, however, when put to a vote approximately 80% of delegates voted in favour.
Teams
General information Twelve counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: seven teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship. CountyLast provincial titleLast championship titlePosition in 2008 ChampionshipAppearanceAntrim2008—Qualifiers Phase 2 Clare19981997Quarter-finals Cork20062005Semi-finals Dublin19611938Qualifiers Phase 3 Galway19991988Qualifiers Phase 4 Kilkenny20082008Champions Laois19491915Qualifiers Phase 2 Limerick19961973Qualifiers Phase 3 Offaly19951998Qualifiers Phase 4 Tipperary20082001Semi-finals Waterford20071959Runners-up Wexford20041996Quarter-finals A total of 12 teams competed in the championship, including all of the teams from the 2008 championship. There were no new entrants. On 3 August 2008, Westmeath won the Christy Ring Cup for the second year in succession, however, there was no promotion mechanism for them to join the top flight.
Personnel and team details
TeamColoursSponsorCaptain(s)Manager(s)AntrimSaffron and whiteCreagh ConcreteNeil McGarry Terence McNaughton Dominic McKinleyClareSaffron and blueVodafoneBrian O'Connell Mike McNamaraCorkRed and whiteO2John Gardiner Denis WalshDublinNavy and blueArnottsStephen Hiney Anthony DalyGalwayMaroon and whiteSupermacsOllie Canning John McIntyreKilkennyBlack and amberGlanbiaMichael Fennelly Brian CodyLaoisBlue and whiteThe Heritage HotelBrian Campion Niall RigneyLimerickGreen and whiteSporting LimerickMark Foley Justin McCarthyOffalyGreen, white and goldCarroll CuisineGer Oakley Joe DooleyTipperaryBlue and goldEnferWillie Ryan Liam SheedyWaterfordWhite and blue3Stephen MolumphyKen McGrath Davy FitzGeraldWexfordPurple and yellowWexford CheddarDiarmuid Lyng Colm Bonnar
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate ofappointment Limerick Richie Bennis Sacked 12 August 2008 Justin McCarthy 7 October 2008 Galway Tommy Naughton Resigned 14 September 2008 Anthony Daly 24 November 2008 Wexford John Meyler Resigned 7 October 2008 Colm Bonnar 11 November 2008 Galway Ger Loughnane Sacked 12 October 2008 John McIntyre 18 November 2008 Cork John Considine End of caretaker spell 26 March 2016 Denis Walsh 26 March 2009
Format The format of the 2009 championship was slightly different from previous years. Firstly, Galway have had no opposition in the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship since 2004. Due to this it was decided at a special meeting of the GAA's congress for Galway to join the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship for a three-year trial period, starting with the 2009 championship. Antrim, being the only Tier 1 team in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship, also participated in the Leinster Championship on a three-year trial period. Antrim also competed in the Ulster Championship which was run as a separate tournament to the All-Ireland Hurling Championship.
12 counties participated in Tier 1 of the 2009 Championship. These teams were as follows: Leinster: Antrim, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly and Wexford Munster: Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford
Provincial Championships The Munster championship was played as usual with five teams. The Leinster championship also proceeded as usual, except for the addition of both Antrim and Galway, bringing the total number of competing teams to seven. The Leinster and Munster champions advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
All-Ireland Qualifiers The qualifiers gave teams defeated in the provincial championships another chance at winning the All-Ireland. Phase 1: (2 matches) the three Leinster quarter-finalists and the Munster quarter-finalist play off. Phase 2: (2 matches) the two Leinster semi-finalists and two Munster semi-finalists play off. Phase 3: (2 matches) The four winners of Phase 1 and Phase 2 games meet in Phase 3. The two Phase 3 winners advance to the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
All-Ireland Series Quarter-finals: (2 matches) The defeated Munster and Leinster finalists played the winners of the Phase 3 qualifiers. Semi-finals: (2 matches) The Munster and Leinster champions played the winners of the quarter-finals.
Promotion/Relegation
Promotion and relegation between Tier 1 and Tier 2 was in operation in the 2009 championship. The defeated team in the Round 2 match of the Relegation playoffs was demoted to the 2010 Christy Ring Cup, to be replaced by the winners of the 2009 Christy Ring Cup.
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Cup competitions
Christy Ring Cup (Tier 2)
Bracket
Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 3)
Lory Meagher Cup (Tier 4)
Bracket
All-Ireland qualifiers
Qualifiers phase 1
Qualifiers phase 2
Qualifiers phase 3
Relegation play-offs
It was intended to hold a relegation playoff between Antrim and Wexford, but instead it was decided to allow both compete in the 2010 championship.
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
All-Ireland quarter-finals
All-Ireland semi-finals
All-Ireland final
Championship statistics Scoring First goal of the championship: Stephen Banville for Wexford against Offaly (Leinster quarter-final) Last goal of the championship: Martin Comerford for Kilkenny against Tipperary (All-Ireland final) First hat-trick of the championship: Niall Healy for Galway against Laois (Leinster quarter-final) Widest winning margin: 27 points Galway 5–29 : 0–17 Laois (Leinster quarter-final) Most goals in a match: 8 Tipperary 6–19 : 2–7 Limerick (All-Ireland semi-final) Most points in a match: 46 Galway 5–29 : 0–17 Laois (Leinster quarter-final) Most goals by one team in a match: 6 Tipperary 6–19 : 2–7 Limerick (All-Ireland semi-final) Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 Galway 3–13 : 2–20 Kilkenny (Leinster quarter-final) Waterford 3–15 : 2–23 Kilkenny (All-Ireland semi-final) Most points scored by a losing team: 23 Tipperary 0–23 : 2–22 Kilkenny (All-Ireland final)
Player facts Retirees The following players played their last game in the 2009 championship:
Player Team Date Opposition Game DébutTimmy McCarthyCorkJuly 18GalwayAll-Ireland qualifiers1999Damien FitzhenryWexfordJuly 25ClareAll-Ireland qualifiers1993Tony GriffinClareJuly 25WexfordAll-Ireland qualifiers2002Niall GilliganClareJuly 25WexfordAll-Ireland qualifiers1997Ollie MoranLimerickAugust 16TipperaryAll-Ireland semi-final1997Mark FoleyLimerickAugust 16TipperaryAll-Ireland semi-final1995
Monthly awards MonthVodafone Player of the MonthOpel GPA Player of the MonthPlayerCountyPlayerCountyMayStephen BanvilleWexfordEoin CadoganCorkJuneKen McGrathWaterfordJohn MullaneWaterfordJulyMichael 'Brick' WalshWaterfordJohn MullaneWaterfordAugustHenry ShefflinKilkennyHenry ShefflinKilkennySeptemberP.J. RyanKilkennyTommy WalshKilkenny
Statistics
Top scorers overall Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average1Joe CanningGalway3–4654510.802Eoin KellyWaterford2–4652510.403Alan McCrabbeDublin1–3942410.504Henry ShefflinKilkenny2–3844411.005Eoin KellyTipperary2–303657.206Diarmuid LyngWexford1–313448.507Lar CorbettTipperary6–112955.808Niall HealyGalway5–92454.80Ben O'ConnorCork0–242438.0010Andrew O'ShaughnessyLimerick1–202363.83
Top scorers in a single game Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition1Henry ShefflinKilkenny1–1417Waterford2Joe CanningGalway2-0915Kilkenny3Niall HealyGalway3-0514LaoisDiarmuid LyngWexford1–1114Clare5Niall GilliganClare1–1013WexfordJoe CanningGalway1–1013Laois7Alan McCrabbeDublin1-0912AntrimAlan McCrabbeDublin0–1212KilkennyEoin KellyWaterford0–1212LimerickColin RyanClare0–1212TipperaryBrian CarrollOffaly0–1212AntrimEoin KellyWaterford0–1212GalwayEoin KellyWaterford1-0912Kilkenny
Clean sheets
Rank Goalkeeper County Clean sheets1Brian Murray Limerick32P. J. Ryan Kilkenny2Damien Fitzhenry WexfordColm Callanan GalwayClinton Hennessy WaterfordGary Maguire Dublin7Brendaan Cummins Tipperary1Ryan McGarry AntrimTadhg Doran LaoisBrian Mullins Offaly
References
External links All-Ireland Hurling Championship Results Official GAA Website RTÉ Sport Website Hurling Statistics