The 2009–10 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship was the 40th staging of Ireland's premier inter-county club hurling competition since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1970–71. A total of 15 teams competed in the championship, with Ballyhale Shamrocks unseating the two-time defending champions Portumna by 1–19 to 0–17 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin. The championship began on 11 October 2009 and concluded on 17 March 2010.

Pre-championship

Having secured their fifth county title since 2003, Portumna were eligible to become the first team to win 3 All-Ireland Championships in-a-row, and their fourth in five years. As such, a lot of focus was placed on the team.

Ballyhale Shamrocks were regarded as the main challengers to Portumna. They entered the competition having captured their fourth county title and were hoping to become the first club to win five All-Ireland titles. Ballyhale Shamrocks had been knocked out by Portumna in the semi-finals of the previous championship

The championship

Participating counties

TeamCountyCaptainMost recent successAll-IrelandProvincialCountyAdareLimerickDonncha Sheehan2008Ballyboden St. Enda'sDublinMalachy Travers2008BallycranDownSeán Ennis19932007BallygunnerWaterfordAlan Kirwan20012005Ballyhale ShamrocksKilkennyÉamonn Walsh200620082008ClonkillWestmeathSeán Loughlin2007Clough-BallacollaLaoisMick McEvoyCratloeClareBarry DugganDunloyAntrimMichael McClements20072007Kevin Lynch'sDerry2008NewtownshandrumCorkDermot Gleeson200420052005Oulart-the-BallaghWexfordPaul Roche2007PortumnaGalwayLeo Smith200920072008Thurles SarsfieldsTipperaryJohnny Enright2005TullamoreOffalyShane Dooley1964

Format

The 2009–10 club championship was run on a provincial basis as usual. It was a knockout tournament with pairings drawn at random in the respective provinces – there were no seeds.

Each match was played as a single leg. If a match was drawn there was a replay. If that match ended in a draw a period of extra time was played, however, if both sides were still level at the end of extra time another replay would take place.

Leinster Championship

Quarter-finals: (2 matches) These were two lone matches between the first four teams drawn from the province of Leinster.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winners of the two quarter-finals joined the other two Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.

Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Munster Championship

Quarter-final: (1 match) This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Munster.

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The winner of the lone quarter-final joined the other three Munster teams to make up the semi-final pairings.

Final: (1 match) The winners of the two semi-finals contested this game.

Ulster Championship

Semi-finals: (1 match) This was a single match between the first two teams drawn from the province of Ulster.

Final: (1 match) The winner of the lone semi-final joined another Ulster team, who received a bye to the final, to make up the final pairings.

All-Ireland Series

Semi-finals: (2 matches) The four provincial champions contested these games.

Final: (1 match) The two semi-final winners contested the final.

Fixtures

Ulster Senior Club Hurling Championship

Leinster Senior Club Hurling Championship

Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship

All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship

Championship statistics

Scoring

First goal of the championship: James Coyle for Ballycran against Kevin Lynch's (Ulster semi-final) Last goal of the championship: David Hoyne for Ballyhale Shamrocks against Portumna (All-Ireland final) Widest winning margin: 12 points Ballyhale Shamrocks 4–18 – 0–18 Ballyboden St. Enda's (Leinster quarter-final) Portumna 2–18 – 0–12 Dunloy (All-Ireland semi-final) Most goals by one team in a match: 4 Ballyhale Shamrocks 4–18 – 0–18 Ballyboden St. Enda's (Leinster quarter-final)

Top scorers

Season Rank Player Club Tally Total Matches Average1Henry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks1–424558.002Ben O'ConnorNewtownshandrum0–323248.003Joe CanningPortumna1–2023211.504T. J. ReidBallyhale Shamrocks3–122154.205Simon WilsonBallycran1–141728.506Brendan MurtaghClonkill2–101628.00Declan HannonAdare1–1316116.007Eoin ReidBallyhale Shamrocks1–131653.208Shane DooleyTullamore1–121527.509Paul FlynnBallygunner0–131326.50

Single game Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition1Declan HannonAdare1–1316Newtownshandrum2Henry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks0–1313Newtownshandrum3Brendan MurtaghClonkill1–0912Clough-BallacollaJoe CanningPortumna0–1212Dunloy4James CoyleBallycran2–0511Kevin Lynch'sNicky KirwanOulart-the Ballagh1–0811Ballyhale ShamrocksJoe CanningPortumna1–0811Dunloy5Ben O'ConnorNewtownshandrum0–1010Adare6Simon WilsonBallycran1–069DunloyDamien BerginClough-Ballacolla1–069ClonkillHenry ShefflinClough-Ballacolla1–069Ballyboden St. Enda'sHenry ShefflinBallyhale Shamrocks0–099PortumnaBen O'ConnorNewtownshandrum0–099Ballyhale Shamrocks

Referees The following referees were used during the championship:

Name County Games James Owens Wexford 2 Dickie Murphy Wexford 2 Brian Gavin Offaly 2 Gerard Devlin Armagh 1 John Sexton Cork 1 Pat Casey Waterford 1 Ger Hoey Clare 1 Cathal McAllister Cork 1 Barry Kelly Westmeath 1 Declan O'Driscoll Limerick 1 Johnny Ryan Tipperary 1

Stadia The following stadia were used during the championship:

County Stadium Capacity Dublin Croke Park 82,300 Tipperary Semple Stadium 55,000 Cork Páirc Uí Chaoimh 43,000 Antrim Casement Park 32,600 Westmeath Cusack Park 15,000 Wexford Wexford Park 25,000 Kilkenny Nowlan Park 24,000 Offaly O'Connor Park 20,000 Waterford Walsh Park 17,000 Dublin Parnell Park 13,500

References