2008 Christy Ring Cup Explained

2008 Christy Ring Cup
Dates:2008
Teams:12
Champions:Carlow
Count:1
Runners-Up:Westmeath
Matches:23
Previous Year:2007
Previous Tournament:2007 Christy Ring Cup
Next Year:2009
Next Tournament:2009 Christy Ring Cup
Relegated:Armagh, London, Meath, Roscommon

The 2008 Christy Ring Cup is the fourth edition of the Christy Ring Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005 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 twelve GAA county teams ranked 13–24 in the 2008 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

Carlow beat Westmeath in the final after extra time. Carlow were beaten by Laois the bottom team in the Liam MacCarthy Cup and played in the Christy Ring Cup again the following year as a result.

Team changes

To Championship

Relegated from the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Promoted from the Nicky Rackard Cup

From Championship

Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup

Teams

General Information

CountyLast Cup titleLast Provincial titleLast All-Ireland titlePosition in 2007 ChampionshipAppearance
Armagh1st
Carlow4th
Derry20013rd
Down19974th
Kerry189118914th
Kildare4th
London19013rd
Mayo19094th
Meath4th
Roscommon19133rd
Westmeath20073rd
Wicklow4th

Personnel and kits

Format

Twelve teams participated in the 2008 Christy Ring Cup.

Each team in the group played each other once in the first phase. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals. The bottom team in each group went into the relegation play-offs.

Group stage

Group 2A

PosTeamPldWDLSFSADiffPtsQualification
1 Wicklow22004–391–27+214Advance to Knockout Stage
2 Westmeath21014–381–31+162
3 Roscommon20020–256–44−370

Matches

Group 2B

PosTeamPldWDLSFSADiffPtsQualification
1 Down22004–382–27+174Advance to Knockout Stage
2 Carlow21012–434–22+152
3 London20023–173–49−320

Matches

Group 2C

PosTeamPldWDLSFSADiffPtsQualification
1 Kerry21017–264–31+42Advance to Knockout Stage
2 Mayo21010–300–31−12
3 Meath21014–297–23−32

Matches

Group 2D

PosTeamPldWDLSFSADiffPtsQualification
1 Kildare22007–441–25+374Advance to Knockout Stage
2 Derry21015–267–34−142
3 Armagh20025–199–30−230

Matches

Knockout stage

Final

See main article: 2008 Christy Ring Cup Final.

Relegation play-offs

Due to a restructuring of the hurling championships the following year, the relegation playoffs were subsequently rendered meaningless as all four teams involved were relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup for 2009.

Stadia and locations

See also: List of Gaelic Athletic Association stadiums.

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Brendan MurtaghWestmeath2–374358.60
2Alan FreemanMayo1–293248.00
3Jonathan O'NeillWicklow0–3131310.33
4Paul BraniffDown2–222839.33
5Mike ConwayKerry4–142646.50

Single game

RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalOpposition
1Brendan MurtaghWestmeath2–1016Carlow
2Jonathan O'NeillWicklow1–1114Roscommon
3Mike ConwayKerry3–312Meath
Ruairí ConveryDerry1–912Armagh
5Paul BraniffDown2–511Carlow
Michael KirkpatrickDerry0–1111Down
Brendan MurtaghWestmeath0–1111Kildare
8Ger O'NeillMeath2–410Roscommon
Kevin McMullenLondon1–710Roscommon
Oisín LynchKildare1–710Westmeath
Paul BraniffDown0–1010Carlow

Miscellaneous

See also

External links