2018 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup is the inaugural edition of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association and is the second-tier of Hurling for senior county teams (the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship is the first-tier trophy). It is contested by six GAA county teams ranked 11–16 in the 2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. The fixtures were announced on 13 April 2018. The competition began on 5 May 2018.

On 1 July 2018, Carlow won the title following a 2-26 to 1-24 defeat of Westmeath in the final. This was their second successive promotion within the various tiers of hurling, as they were also the 2017 Christy Ring Cup champions.

Meath were relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup after losing all of their group stage games.

Antrim's Neil McManus was the competition's top scorer with 3-67.

Teams

A total of six teams compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup, with representatives from Leinster (4), Munster (1) and Ulster (1). As 2018 was the inaugural year, four of the teams ( Kerry, Laois, Meath and Westmeath) previously played in the qualifier group of the 2017 Leinster Championship (tier 1) and two teams (Antrim and Carlow) were the finalists in the 2017 Christy Ring Cup (then tier 2, re-classified as tier 3 for 2018).

General Information CountyLast Provincial titleLast All-Ireland titlePosition in 2017 ChampionshipAppearance Antrim2017—Runners-up (Christy Ring Cup)1st Carlow——Champions (Christy Ring Cup)1st Kerry18911891Group Stage (Leinster SHC)1st Laois19491915Round 1 (All-Ireland SHC)1st Meath——Group Stage (Leinster SHC)1st Westmeath——Round 1 (All-Ireland SHC)1st

Personnel and kits CountyManagerCaptain(s)Sponsor AntrimDominic McKinley and Terence McNaughtonNeil McManusCreagh Concrete CarlowColm BonnarRichard CoadyIT Carlow KerryFintan O'ConnorPádraig BoyleKerry Group LaoisÉamonn KellyRoss KingMW Hire Services MeathNick FitzgeraldJames KellyUniflu WestmeathMichael RyanTommy DoyleRenault

Format

All six teams compete in an initial round-robin of five rounds where teams play each other once. The top two teams after the round robin stage play the third-placed teams in the Leinster and Munster championships in the two All-Ireland preliminary quarter finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.

The top two teams also compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. If the winner is a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the winner is a Munster team, in effect Kerry, they must win a play-off with the bottom-placed team in the Munster Championship to gain promotion to the following year's Munster Championship.

In order to reduce the number of teams in the Joe McDonagh Cup to five in 2019, the bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and will not be replaced. The team that finishes second last in the 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup plays off against the 2018 Christy Ring Cup champions. The winner of that game plays in the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2019 and the losing team plays in the 2019 Christy Ring Cup.

Group stage

Table

TeamQualification1 Carlow5401122102208Advance to Knockout Stage and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals2 Westmeath54011301151583 Kerry530210597864 Laois5203118123-545 Antrim5203130116144Advance to Relegation Playoff6 Meath500594146-520Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

Rounds 1 to 5

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Final

Carlow are promoted to the 2019 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.

Relegation/promotion playoff

The bottom team after the round robin games, Meath, were relegated to the 2019 Christy Ring Cup. The second-last team in the Joe McDonagh Cup (tier 2), Antrim, defeated Kildare, the winners of the 2018 Christy Ring Cup final (tier 3) and thereby retained their place in the Joe McDonagh Cup for the 2019 edition.

Stadia and locations

CountyLocationProvinceStadium(s)CapacityNeutral venueDublinLeinsterCroke Park82,300 AntrimBelfastUlsterCorrigan Park3,700 CarlowCarlowLeinsterDr Cullen Park21,000 KerryTraleeMunsterAustin Stack Park12,000 LaoisPortlaoiseLeinsterO'Moore Park27,000 MeathNavanLeinsterPáirc Tailteann11,000 WestmeathMullingarLeinsterCusack Park11,000

Statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average1Neil McManusAntrim3-6776612.662Denis MurphyCarlow0-505068.333Shane ConwayKerry0-363657.204Ross KingLaois0-353548.755Niall O'Brien Westmeath3-233265.336Allan DevineWestmeath2-243056.007Patrick ConneelyMeath1-222555.008Chris NolanCarlow1-212464.009James DoyleCarlow4-112363.8310Jack ReganMeath1-182154.20

In a single game

Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition1Neil McManusAntrim0-1717Kerry2Neil McManusAntrim0-1313Westmeath3Shane ConwayKerry0-1212AntrimJack ReganMeath0-1212Antrim5Nigel ElliottAntrim3-0211MeathNeil McManusAntrim1-0811CarlowDenis MurphyCarlow0-1111AntrimNeil McManusAntrim0-1111LaoisRoss KingLaois0-1111Antrim10Conor JohnstonAntrim2-0410MeathPatrick ConneelyMeath1-0710CarlowRoss KingLaois0-1010WestmeathDenis MurphyCarlow0-1010WestmeathDenis MurphyCarlow0-1010Westmeath

Scoring Events

Widest winning margin: 16 points Meath 2-18 - 5-25 Antrim (Round 1) Most goals in a match: 7 Meath 2-18 - 5-25 Antrim (Round 1) Most points in a match: 50 Westmeath 1-24 - 2-26 Carlow (Final) Most goals by one team in a match: 5 Meath 2-18 - 5-25 Antrim (Round 1) Most points by one team in a match: 26 Westmeath 1-24 - 2-26 Carlow (Final) Highest aggregate score: 64 points Meath 2-18 - 5-25 Antrim (Round 1) Lowest aggregate score: 33 points Kerry 0-15 - 2-12 Westmeath (Round 3)

Miscellaneous Carlow become the first county to win the Joe McDonagh Cup. Carlow won their 2nd championship in a row after winning the 2017 Christy Ring Cup. Westmeath's round 1 victory over Laois was their first win against the O'Moore county in championship hurling since 1968.

2018 Joe McDonagh Cup

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