2017 Christy Ring Cup

The 2017 Christy Ring Cup was the 13th staging of the Christy Ring Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The competition began on 22 April 2017 and ended on 10 June 2017.

2017 Christy Ring Cup

Dates	22 April 2017 – 10 June 2017
Teams	8
Champions	Carlow (3rd title) Marty Kavanagh (captain) Colm Bonnar (manager)
Runners-up	Antrim Conor Carson (captain) Dominic McKinley (manager)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	14
Goals scored	47 (3.36 per match)
Points scored	494 (35.29 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Denis Murphy (0-45)
← 2016 (Previous) (Next) 2018 →

Meath were the 2016 champions and were promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.[1] Mayo returned to the Christy Ring Cup after gaining promotion from the Nicky Rackard Cup.

On 10 June 2017, Carlow won the Christy Ring Cup following a 5-23 to 4-15 defeat of Antrim.[2] This was their third Christy Ring Cup title, their first in eight seasons.

Format

The 2017 Christy Ring Cup begins in a double-elimination format which ensures that each team plays at least two games before being eliminated, and at least three games in total (including the relegation play-off). At the quarter-final stage, the competition becomes straight knockout. For clarity, the fixtures and draw details are explained in the section for each round below.

Eight teams participate.

Team	Colours	Sponsor	Manager	Grounds	Last title
Antrim		Creagh Concrete	Dominic McKinley Terence McNaughton	Páirc Mhuire	2006
Carlow		tickets.ie	Colm Bonnar	Dr. Cullen Park	2009
Down			Michael Johnston	McKenna Park	2013
Kildare		Brady Family	Joe Quaid	St. Conleth's Park	2014
London				Emerald GAA Grounds	2012
Mayo		Intersport Elvery's	J. P. Coen	James Stephens Park	2013
Roscommon		John Doorly		Athleague Sportsfield
Wicklow				Joule Park

Round 1

All eight teams play in Round 1.

Down v Roscommon

22 April 2017	Down	2-24 - 1-20	Roscommon	McKenna Park, Ballycran
13:00	P Sheehan 0-15f; M Magee 1-2; E Sands 1-1; D Hughes 0-1; C O'Prey 0-1; O McManus 0-1; G Johnston 0-1; C Woods 0-1; G Hughes 0-1.	Report	S Curley 0-6 (5f); N Connaughton 1-2; R Fallon 0-5f; J Coyne 0-3; E Flanagan 0-2; T Seale 0-1; H Rooney 0-1.	Referee: M Murtagh (Westmeath)

Carlow v Antrim

22 April 2017	Carlow	2-22 - 3-20 (aet)	Antrim	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow
15:00	D Murphy 0-16, 0-11f, 0-2 65s, M Kavanagh 2-1, P Coady, C Nolan 0-2 each, J Murphy 0-1.	Report	N McManus 1-11, 0-9f, 0-1 '65, C Clarke 1-2, N McKenna 1-0, P Shiels 0-2, P McGill, S McCrory, E Campbell, C Johnson, J McNaughton 0-1 each.	Referee: C McAllister (Cork)

Mayo v Kildare

22 April 2017	Mayo	0-16 - 0-17	Kildare	James Stephens Park, Ballina
15:00	K Higgins 0-10 (9f), J NcManus 0-3, D McLoughlin, C Scahill, S Regan 0-1 each.	Report	D Reidy 0-13 (11f, 2 '65s), J Sheridan 0-2, J Mulhall and M Delaney 0-1 each.	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

Wicklow v London

23 April 2017	Wicklow	0-17 - 0-16	London	Joule Park, Aughrim
13:00	C Moorehouse 0-10 (6f, 1 65), A O'Brien, D Masterson 0-2 each, G O'Brien, D Staunton, E McCormack 0-1 each.	Report	K O'Loughlin 0-9 (4fs, 2 65s), E Kenny 0-2, E Cooney, M Dwyer, S Lawless, N Rogers, S O'Donnell 0-1 each.	Referee: J O'Brien (Laois)

Round 2

Round 2A

Contested by the four winners of Round 1. The winning teams advance to the semi-finals, the losing teams to the 'official' quarter-finals.

Antrim v Down

29 April 2017	Antrim	3-15 - 0-11	Down	Páirc Mhuire, Cushendall
2.00 PM	C Clarke 1-7 (5f, '65'); Ciaran Johnston 2-0 pen; N McKenna, E Campbell, C McCann 0-2 each; P McGill, Conor Johnston 0-1 each.	Report	S Nicholson 0-7f; D McManus 0-3; E Sands, G Johnston 0-1 each.

Kildare v Wicklow

29 April 2017	Kildare	2-19 - 3-18	Wicklow	St. Conleth's Park, Newbridge
3.00 PM	D Reidy 0-11 (7f); J Mulhall, C Bonus 1-0; P Divilly, B Byrne, J Sheridan 0-2 each; M Delaney, R Ryan 0-1 each.	Report	C Moorehouse 0-9 (7f, 1 '65); A O'Brien 2-2; P Doyle 1-0; D Staunton 0-3; D Masterson 0-2; R Reddy 0-1.

Round 2B

Contested by the four losers of Round 1. The winning teams advance to the quarter-finals, The two losing teams contest the bottom play-off game (see below).

Carlow v Mayo

29 April 2017	Carlow	5-18 - 2-07	Mayo	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow
3.00 PM	J Doyle 2-2, K McDonald 2-1, M Kavanagh 1-4 (2f), J Murphy 0-4, E Byrne, J Kavanagh 0-2 each, D English (f), D Byrne, C Nolan 0-1 each.	Report	K Feeney 1-6, (4f, 1 '65), J McManus 1-0, D McLoughlin 0-1.

Roscommon v London

29 April 2017	Roscommon	1-09 - 4-24	London	Dr. Hyde Park, Roscommon
6.00 PM	S Curley 0-4 (2f, 1 '65); J Coyne 1-0; R Fallon 0-3 (2f); P Kelly, E Costello, E Flanagan (f) 0-1 each.	Report	K O'Loughlin 1-7 (3f, 1 '65); S Lawless 1-3; M Duggan, PJ Rowe 1-0 each; E Kenny, M Dwyer, E Cooney 0-3 each; E Kelly 0-2 (2f), B Regan, T Healy, S O'Donnell 0-1 each.

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, with the winners playing the winners of round 2A in the semi-finals.

Kildare v Carlow

6 May 2017	Kildare	0-15 - 1-23	Carlow	St. Conleth's Park, Newbridge
3.00 PM	P Divilly 0-6(5f), M Purcell and J Sheridan(4f) 0-4 each, B Byrne 0-1.	Report	D Murphy 0-10f, P Coady (1f) and M Kavanagh 0-4 each, J Doyle 1-2, C Nolan, J Murphy, D Byrne, J Nolan and E Byrne 0-1 each.

London v Down

7 May 2017	London	0-19 - 2-19	Down	Páirc na hÉireann, Birmingham
	K O'Loughlin (0-5, 3f), E Kenny (0-4), D Roberts (0-4); S Bardon (0-3), M Dwyer (0-1), PJ Rowe (0-1), E Kelly (0-1f).	Report	E Sands (2-1), C O'Prey (0-6, 3f), S Nicholson (0-5, 2f), D Toner (0-4), D Hughes (0-1); C Mageean (0-1), C Taggart (0-1).	Referee: J Keane

Semi-finals

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

Carlow v Wicklow

20 May 2017	Carlow	0-24 - 2-08	Wicklow	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow
15:00	D Murphy 0-8, 0-6f, J M Nolan 0-5, M Kavanagh 0-3, J Kavanagh, C Nolan, P Coady 0-2 each, K McDonald, E Byrne 0-1 each.	Report	A O’Brien 0-4, 0-1f, E McCormack and G O’Brien 1-0 each, D Staunton, J Henderson, D Masterson (f), R Keddy 0-1 each.	Referee: J Keane (Galway)

Antrim v Down

20 May 2017	Antrim	4-23 - 0-15	Down	Páirc Mhuire, Cushendall
17:00	C Clarke 2-7, (7f) Conor Johnston 2-1, N McManus 0-6, (1f) C McKinley, C McCann 0-3 each, C Carson 0-2, P Burke 0-1.	Report	C O’Prey 0-4, (3f, 0-1 sideline), D Toner 0-3, S Nicholson, C Mageean, M Magee 0-2 each, C Egan, P Sheehan 0-1 each.	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

Final

The winners of this year's Christy Ring Cup (tier 2) enter this year's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship in the preliminary round of the All-Ireland qualifiers (passed at GAA congress in February 2017). They are also promoted to play in the qualifier group of next year's Leinster Senior Hurling Championship.[3]

10 June 2017

17.00

Carlow	5-23 - 4-15	Antrim
J Doyle 4-1, D Murphy 0-11 (11f), M Kavanagh 1-1, D Byrne 0-3, JM Nolan 0-3, R Kelly 0-1, P Coady 0-1, C Nolan 0-1, J Murphy 0-1 (1f)	Report	C Clarke 2-9 (7f, 1 '65), N McManus 1-2 (1-1f), E Campbell 1-0, C McKinley 0-1, P Shiels 0-1, P McGill 0-1, D McKernan 0-1

Croke Park, Dublin

Referee: M Murtagh (Westmeath)

Bracket

	Round 1 Round 2B					Round 2A Quarter Finals					Semi Finals					Final
	Carlow		2-22
	Antrim		3-20			Antrim		3-15
	Down		2-24			Down		0-11
	Roscommon		1-20								Antrim		4-23
											Down		0-15
						London		0-19
	Roscommon		1-09			Down		2-19
	London		4-24													Antrim		4-15
	Carlow		5-18													Carlow		5-23
	Mayo		2-07			Kildare		0-15
						Carlow		1-23
											Carlow		0-24			Relegation Playoff
	Mayo		0-16								Wicklow		2-08
	Kildare		0-17			Kildare		2-19								Mayo		1-25
	Wicklow		0-17			Wicklow		3-18								Roscommon		2-12
	London		0-16

Bottom Play-Off

Contested by the two losing teams from round 2B. Both these teams lost their first two matches. Normally Roscommon would have been relegated as they lost this play-off match. Due to the major reorganisation of hurling in September 2018, Roscommon remained in the Christy Ring Cup.

20 May 2017

17:00

Bottom play-off

Mayo	1-25 - 2-12	Roscommon
K Feeney (0-11, 8f ), J McManus (0-6 ), K McDermott (0-3 ), D McTigue (1-0 ) , D Kenny (0-1 ), B Hunt (0-1 ), C Scahill (0-1 ), P Hickey (0-1 ), D McLoughlin (0-1 )	Report	C Dolan (1-3, 1f ), R Fallon (0-3,3f ), P Kelly (0-3 ), E Flanagan (1-0 ), N Connaughton (0-1 ), S Curley (0-1, 1f ), M Beirne (0-1, 1f ).

Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, Carrick

Scoring statistics

Top scorers overall

Rank	Player	Team	Tally	Total
1	Denis Murphy	Carlow	0-45	45
2	Ciarán Clarke	Antrim	6-25	43
3	James Doyle	Carlow	7-05	26
4	Marty Kavanagh	Carlow	4-13	25
	Neil McManus	Antrim	2-19	25
6	Kevin O'Loughlin	London	1-21	24
	David Reidy	Kildare	0-24	24
8	Kenny Feeney	Mayo	1-17	20
9	Christy Moorehouse	Wicklow	0-19	19
10	Paul Sheehan	Down	0-16	16

Top scorers in a single game

Rank	Player	Team	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Denis Murphy	Carlow	0-16	16	Antrim
2	Ciarán Clarke	Antrim	2-09	15	Carlow
	Paul Sheehan	Down	0-15	15	Roscommon
4	Neil McManus	Antrim	1-11	14	Carlow
5	James Doyle	Carlow	4-01	13	Antrim
	Ciarán Clarke	Antrim	2-07	13	Down
	David Reidy	Kildare	0-13	13	Mayo
8	David Reidy	Kildare	0-11	11	Wicklow
	Denis Murphy	Carlow	0-11	11	Antrim
	Kenny Feeney	Mayo	0-11	11	Roscommon

References

1. "Meath outlast Antrim in extra time cracker to win Christy Ring Cup final at the second time of asking". Irish Independent. 25 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
2. "Carlow too strong for Antrim as Christy Ring Cup final produces nine-goal thriller". Irish Independent. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
3. See motion 24 passed at 2015 GAA Annual Congress 28 February 2015