The 2010 O'Byrne Cup was a Gaelic football competition played by the teams of Leinster GAA. The competition differs from the Leinster Senior Football Championship as it also features further education colleges and the winning team does not progress to another tournament at All-Ireland level. Last year's winners of the O'Byrne Cup were Louth. The O'Byrne Cup was due to begin on 6 January 2010; however, due to Arctic conditions in the Leinster region of Ireland, the Leinster council decided to postpone all games until 16 January.
Rule changes This competition was the first Leinster senior football competition to include the 2010 modifications to the rules of the game. In matches in this competition, players could only use a fist pass rather than having the option of using an open-handed hand pass, which was the case previously. An experimental 'mark' rule was also introduced, where a player catching a kick-out from the goalkeeper between the 45-metre lines was awarded a free kick. There were also changes in the location where penalties and kickouts were taken, and the definition of what constituted a 'bounce' during solo runs.
O'Byrne Cup
First round The eight winning teams from the first round of the O'Byrne Cup went on to qualify for the quarter-finals of the tournament. The losers of the first round went on to the O'Byrne Shield quarter finals.
Quarter-finals The quarter finals were played on the weekend of 24 January 2010. One match (Dublin vs Meath) ended in a draw, and a replay was held on 27 January. Another match (Laois vs Kildare) was a source of controversy, when a brawl which occurred during the match led to a total of seven players being sent off. A subsequent investigation into the incident led to 4 Laois players and 2 Kildare players receiving suspensions from the game for between four and eight weeks. The affected players would be ineligible to play in the rest of the O'Byrne Cup, as well as any National Football League matches scheduled to be played during the period of suspension.
Semi-finals
Final
GK1 Neil Gallagher (Cooley Kickhams)RCB2 Pádraig Rath (Dreadnots)FB3 Dessie Finnegan (St Patrick's) LCB4 Ronan Greene (Naomh Malachi)RHB5 Aaron Hoey (St Bride's)CHB6 Mick Fanning (Naomh Máirtín)LHB7 Stephen Fitzpatrick (Clan na Gael)MF8 Seán O'Neill (Cooley Kickhams)MF9 Brian White (Cooley Kickhams)RHF10 Adrian Reid (Mattock Rangers)CHF11 Mark Brennan (Mattock Rangers)LHF12 Derek Crilly (Dundalk GaelsRCF13 Colm Judge (Newtown Blues)FF14 Shane Lennon (Kilkerley Emmets)LCF15 JP Rooney (Naomh Máirtín)Substitutes: 16 Declan Byrne (St Mochta's) for Hoey 17 Darren Clarke (St Sylvester's, Dublin) for Reid 18 Liam Shevlin (Dreadnots) for Greene GK1 Michael Boyle (Donegal)RCB2 Simon Shortall (Laois)FB3 Philly McMahon (Dublin)LCB4 Neil Collins (Roscommon)RHB5 Hugh Gill (Dublin)CHB6 Bryan Cullen (Dublin)LHB7 Pauric Howard (Meath)MF8 Ray Cullivan (Cavan)MF9 Conor Rafferty (Louth)RHF10 Brian Sheridan (Meath)CHF11 Micheál Lyng (Cavan)LHF12 Paddy Byrne (Wicklow)RCF13 Shane Roche (Wexford)FF14 Donal Shine (Roscommon)LCF15 Willie Mulhall (Offaly) Substitutes: 16 Eoin Culligan (Dublin) for Shortall 17 Kevin Nolan (Dublin) for Howard 18 Paddy Andrews (Dublin) for Mulhall 19 Kieran Gavin (Westmeath) for Byrne 20 Craig Dunleavy (Dublin) for Rafferty
O'Byrne Shield The O'Byrne Shield consisted of the 8 losing teams from the first round of the O'Byrne Cup.
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
See also 2010 Dr McKenna Cup
References