2016 Nicky Rackard Cup

The 2016 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 12th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The competition began on Saturday 23 April 2016 and ended on Saturday 4 June 2016.

2016 Nicky Rackard Cup

Dates	23 April 2016 – 4 June 2016
Teams	8
Champions	Mayo (1st title) Brian Hunt (captain) J. P. Coen (manager)
Runners-up	Armagh Sylvester McConnell (manager)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	14
Goals scored	66 (4.71 per match)
Points scored	442 (31.57 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Damian Casey (2-40)
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Roscommon were the 2015 champions and were promoted to the Christy Ring Cup.[1]

On 4 June 2016, Mayo won the Nicky Rackard Cup following a 2-16 to 1-15 defeat of Armagh. It was their first Nicky Rackard Cup title.

Tyrone's Damian Casey was the championship's top scorer with 2-40.

Format

The 2016 Nicky Rackard Cup is played in a double-elimination format. For clarity, the draw details are detailed in each round below.

Round 1

All eight teams play in Round 1.

Fermanagh v Monaghan

23 April 2016 Round 1	Fermanagh	1-15 - 5-12	Monaghan	Brewster Park, Enniskillen
	S Corrigan 0-11 (1 65, 7fs), C McShea 1-00, D McGarry 0-01.	Report	B Mc Guigan 3-01, S Lambe 1-04 (3fs), M Treanor 1-01, N Garland 0-04, F Rafter and D Crowe 0-01 each	Referee: C Cunning (Antrim)

Armagh v Donegal

23 April 2016 Round 1	Armagh	2-19 - 3-13	Donegal	Athletic Grounds, Armagh
	R Gaffney (0-8, 6 frees, 2 ’65’s), C Corvan (1-2), C Carvill (1-2), D Carvill (0-3), P McKearney (0-3), N Curry (0-1, free).	Report	S McVeigh (3-2), L Henderson (0-6, 5 frees), B Lafferty (0-2), C Mathewson (0-1), P Doherty (0-1), D Cullen (0-1).	Referee: E Hassan (Derry)

Tyrone v Mayo

23 April 2016 Round 1	Tyrone	0-17 - 4-19	Mayo	Páirc Naomh Colmcille, Carrickmore
	D Casey 0-12 (9f), C Grogan 0-2, A Kelly, G Gilmore, S Og Grogan 0-1 each.	Report	K Feeney 2-3 (0-2fs), J McManus 1-5, S Boland 1-4, C Freeman 0-5, S Regan, C Scahill 0-1 each.	Referee: J Clarke (Cavan)

Fingal v Longford

23 April 2016 Round 1	Fingal	3-21 - 3-15	Longford	Páirc Barróg, Kilbarrack
	JM Sheridan 0-11 (0-6f, 0-1 65f), TJ Howard 1-3, K O'Sullivan 1-0, D Renahan 1-0 (1-0 pen), S Owens 0-2, P Sheridan 0-2, K O'Flynn 0-1, L Kelly 0-1.	Report	J O'Brien 1-7 (0-1f, 0-1 65), P Farrington 1-3, C Mullane 1-1, B Hanley 0-1, M Coyle 0-1, P Walsh 0-1 (0-1f), K Connelly 0-1,	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

Round 2A

Contested by the four winners of Round 1.

Mayo v Armagh

30 April 2016 Round 2A	Mayo	0-22 - 1-11	Armagh	James Stephens Park, Ballina
	K Feeney (6f) 0-11; K McDermott 0-3; K Higgins, C Freeman, S Regan and C Scahill 0-2 each.	Report	C Corvan (2f) 1-4, R Gaffney 0-4, P Kearney, D Carvill and S Renaghan 0-1 each.	Referee: P Murphy (Carlow)

Monaghan v Fingal

30 April 2016 Round 2A	Monaghan	3-14 - 2-19	Fingal	St. Mary's Park, Castleblaney
	S Lambe 1-6(3f), M Treanor 1-1, B McGuigan 1-1, N Garland 0-4(3f), D Crowe, F Rafter 0-1 each.	Report	JM Sheridan 0-8(3f), E Thynne 1-1, I Furlong 0-4, P Graves 0-2, R McGarry, L Kelly, P Sheridan 0-1 each.	Referee: G Quilty (Kilkenny)

Round 2B

Contested by the four losers of Round 1.

Donegal v Fermanagh

30 April 2016 Round 2B	Donegal	3-15 - 3-11	Fermanagh	O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny
	S McVeigh 1-3, L Henderson 0-6 (6f), K Campbell, C Matthewson 1-0 each, B Lafferty 0-2, N Cleary, P Sheridan, D Cullen, R McDermott 0-1 each.	Report	S Corrigan 1-5 (2f), JP McGarry 1-1, R Porteous 1-0, D McGarry 0-2 (1f), R Bogue 0-2 (2f), J Duffy 0-1 (f).	Referee: K McGeeney (Mayo)

Longford v Tyrone

30 April 2016 Round 2B	Longford	4-18 - 3-17	Tyrone	Glennon Brothers Pearse Park
	J O’Brien (0-9, 0-4 frees, 0-1 ’65), P Farrington (2-2), C Mullane (1-4), K Conneely (1-1), P Walsh (0-1), P Corcoran (0-1).	Report	D Casey (1-11, 0-6 frees, 0-1 ’65), M Mulgrew (1-0), R McKernan (1-0), A Kelly (0-2), C McNally (0-1), T Morgan (0-1), Conor Grogan (0-1), Gerard Gilmore (0-1).	Referee: J Heffernan (Wexford)

Quarter-finals

The two losers of round 2A (who won a match and lost a match) play the two winners of round 2B (who lost a match and won a match). These two matches are referred to as quarter-finals.

Longford v Armagh

7 May 2016 Quarter-final	Longford	2-11 - 3-19	Armagh	Glennon Brothers Pearse Park
	J O'Brien 1-6f, C Mullane 0-4, K Cox 1-0, P Farrington 0-1.	Report	C Corvan 1-6, D Coulter 1-5, R Gaffney 0-6 (4f), S Renaghan 1-0, J Corvan, P McKearney 0-1 each.	Referee: P Burke (Kilkenny)

Monaghan v Donegal

7 May 2016 Quarter-final	Monaghan	3-14 - 4-14	Donegal	Páic Grattan, Inniskeen
	F Rafter 0-11 (8f), M Treanor 1-0, S Lambe 1-0, N Garland 0-2 (1f), P Treanor 0-1.	Report	L Henderson 1-6 (1-4f), K Campbell 1-3, C Matthewson 1-1, T Campbell 1-0, R McDermott 1-0, N Cleary 0-3, S McVeigh 0-1.	Referee: M Murtagh

Semi-finals

The winners of round 2A play the winners of the two quarter-finals.

Mayo v Donegal

21 May 2016 Semi-final	Mayo	1-18 - 2-11	Donegal	O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny
	K Feeney 0-7 (4f, 1 '65); J McManus 1-1; S Regan 0-4; D McTigue 0-2; C Freeman, S Boland, K McDermott, F Boland 0-1 each.	Report	L Henderson (f) 0-7; D Cullen 1-1; C Matthewson 1-0; S McVeigh, N Cleary, J O'Loughlin 0-1 each.	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

Fingal v Armagh

21 May 2016 Semi-final	Fingal	1-11 - 3-19	Armagh	Páirc Barróg, Dublin
	JM Sheridan 1-6 (3f, 1 '65), P Sheridan 0-2, K O'Sullivan, E Thyne, P Graves 0-1 each.	Report	R Gaffney 0-7(4f), C Corvan 2-2, D Coulter 1-1, S Renaghan 0-3, C Carvill, E McGuinness, 0-2 each, P McKearney, O Curry 0-1 each.	Referee: P Murphy (Carlow)

Final

Mayo v Armagh

4 June 2016 Final	Mayo	2-16 - 1-15	Armagh	Croke Park, Dublin
15.30	K Feeney 1-9 (0-6f), D McTigue 1-0, S Regan, F Boland 0-2 each, S Boland, J McManus, C Scahill 0-1 each.	Report	E McGuinness 1-1, D Coulter 0-5, R Gaffney 0-4 (3f, 1 ’65), D Carvill, C Corvan 0-2 each, C Carvill 0-1.	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

Christy Ring/Nicky Rackard Relegation/Promotion

The bottom team in this year's Christy Ring Cup (tier 2) plays the winner of this year's Nicky Rackard Cup (tier 3).

Derry v Mayo

11 June 2016 Play-off

Derry

1-14 - 1-21

Mayo

Ballinamore, Leitrim

Nicky Rackard/Lory Meagher Play-offs

Bottom play-off

Contested by the two losers from round 2B. Both these teams lost their first two matches.

Fermanagh v Tyrone

21 May 2016 Bottom play-off	Fermanagh	1-14 - 3-22	Tyrone	O'Neill Park, Dungannon
	S Corrigan (f) 1-6; J Duffy (2f) 0-4; D McGarry, C McShea, C Corrigan (f), R Bogue 0-1 each.	Report	D Casey (9f, 1 '65) 1-17; S Óg Grogan 1-4; M Mulgrew 1-0; T Morgan, E O'Sullivan 0-1 each.	Referee: C Cunning (Antrim)

Relegation/Promotion play-off

The bottom team in this year's Nicky Rackard Cup (tier 3) plays the winner of this year's Lory Meagher Cup (tier 4).

Fermanagh v Louth

11 June 2016 Play-off

Fermanagh

0-12 - 7-19

Louth

Scoring statistics

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Damian Casey	Tyrone	2-40	46	3	15.33
2	Kenny Feeney	Mayo	3-30	39	4	8.75
3	Conor Corvan	Armagh	5-16	31	5	6.20
4	Ryan Gaffney	Armagh	0-29	29	5	5.80
5	J. M. Sheridan	Fingal	1-25	28	3	9.33
	Joe O'Brien	Longford	2-22	28	3	9.33
	Seán Corrigan	Fermanagh	2-22	28	3	9.33
	Lee Henderson	Donegal	1-25	28	4	7.00

Top scorer in a single game

Rank	Player	Team	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Damian Casey	Tyrone	1-17	20	Fermanagh
2	Damian Casey	Tyrone	1-11	13	Longford
3	Kenny Feeney	Mayo	1-9	12	Armagh
	Damian Casey	Tyrone	0-12	12	Mayo
5	Seán McVeigh	Donegal	3-2	11	Armagh
	Seán Corrigan	Fermanagh	0-11	11	Monaghan
	J. M. Sheridan	Fingal	0-11	11	Longford
	Kenny Feeney	Mayo	0-11	11	Armagh
	Fergal Rafter	Monaghan	0-11	11	Donegal
10	Brian McGuigan	Monaghan	3-1	10	Fermanagh
	Joe O'Brien	Longford	1-7	10	Fingal

References

1. "Kelly the Nicky Rackard hero for Roscommon". Irish Times. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2016.