2020 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup was the third staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.[1] The competition was initially scheduled to begin on 10 May 2020 and end on 29 June 2020. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games, the first-round games were delayed until 25 October 2020.

2020 Joe McDonagh Cup
Dates25 October – 13 December 2020
Teams5
Champions Antrim (1st title)
Conor McCann (captain)
Darren Gleeson (manager)
Runners-up Kerry
Bryan Murphy (captain)
Fintan O'Connor (manager)
Tournament statistics
Matches played11
Goals scored37 (3.36 per match)
Points scored419 (38.09 per match)
Top scorer(s) Ciarán Clarke (4-47)
← 2019 (Previous) (Next) 2021 →

Laois, the 2019 champions, were promoted to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, while Offaly were relegated to the Christy Ring Cup. Meath and Carlow entered the cup.

On 13 December 2020, Antrim won the Joe McDonagh Cup after a 0-22 to 1-17 win over Kerry in the final at Croke Park.[2] It was their first ever title.[3][4]

Teams and venues

Five teams compete in the 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup.[5]

Team Colours Location Stadium Capacity Sponsor Captain Manager
Antrim Belfast Corrigan Park 5,000 Creagh Concrete Conor McCann Neal Peden [6]
Carlow Carlow Netwatch Cullen Park 21,000 IT Carlow Diarmuid Byrne
Richard Coady		 Colm Bonnar
Kerry Tralee Austin Stack Park 12,000 Kerry Group Bryan Murphy Fintan O'Connor
Meath Navan Páirc Tailteann 17,000 Glenveagh Properties Seán Geraghty[7] Nick Weir
Westmeath Mullingar Cusack Park 11,000 Renault Aonghus Clarke[8] Joe Quaid[9]

Competition Format

Joe McDonagh Cup

Initially each of the five teams play the other four teams in a round of single round-robin matches. The top two teams qualify for the Joe McDonagh Cup final which is held at Croke Park.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Normally the top two teams also enter the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship where they 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 senior hurling championship was shortened in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the cancellation of the participation of the two Joe McDonagh Cup finalists.

Promotion to Leinster or Munster SHC

The winner of the Joe McDonagh Cup can also be promoted to the following year's Leinster or Munster Senior Hurling championships, which form the first round of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. How this is achieved depends on the province to which the Cup champions belong.

If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship and the bottom-placed team in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship are automatically relegated to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup. If the champions are a Munster team (effectively, Kerry), they must win a play-off with the bottom-placed team in the Munster Championship to gain promotion at that teams expense to the following year's Munster Championship.

Relegation

The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are usually relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup, and replaced by the 2020 Christy Ring Cup Champions. In 2021 the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship will be increased from five to six teams, meaning there will be no team relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2020. The 2020 Christy Ring Cup winners will be promoted to Maintain the Joe McDonagh Cup as a five team competition.

Group Stage

Table
Key to colours
     Advance to Joe McDonagh Cup Final
Pos Team Pld W D L SF SA Diff Pts
1 Antrim 4 3 1 0 14-89 8-64 +43 7
2 Kerry 4 3 0 1 7-75 4-67 +16 6
3 Westmeath 4 2 0 2 4-70 9-76 -21 4
4 Carlow 4 1 1 2 6-83 9-80 -6 3
5 Meath 4 0 0 4 5-63 6-92 -32 0

Round 1
25 October 2020 Round 1 Antrim 4-25 – 1-15 Westmeath Corrigan Park
C Clarke (2-8, 6f); C McCann (1-3); N McKenna, K Molloy (0-4 each); A O’Brien (1-0), G Walsh, E Campbell (0-2 each); D McMullan, S McCrory (0-1 each). Report B Murtagh (0-6f); Niall O’Brien (1-2); D Clinton (0-4); A Clarke, N Mitchell, S Williams (0-1 each). Referee: S Stack (Dublin)
25 October 2020 Round 1 Kerry 1-20 – 0-13 Meath Austin Stack Park
S Conway 0-9 (9f); S Nolan 1-2; M Boyle 0-4; M O'Leary 0-2; B Barrett, M Slattery, C Harty 0-1 each. Report P O'Hanrahan 0-8 (6f, 1 '65); J Regan 0-4; S Whitty 0-1. Referee: T Walsh (Waterford)

Round 2
31 October 2020 Round 2 Westmeath 0-14 – 2-19 Kerry TEG Cusack Park
B Murtagh 0-4 (3f), D Clinton 0-3, R Greville, A Devine, N O'Brien 0-2 each, D McNicholas 0-1. Report S Conway 1-12 (8f), S Nolan 1-0, P Boyle 0-3, C Harty 0-2, M O'Leary, M O'Connor 0-1 each. Referee: S Cleere (Kilkenny)
31 October 2020 Round 2 Carlow 2-25 – 5-16 Antrim Netwatch Cullen Park
M Kavanagh 0-7 (5f), C Nolan 0-5, E Byrne 1-2, J Kavanagh 0-4, JM Nolan 1-1, T Joyce, K McDonald 0-2 each, D Byrne, J Nolan 0-1. Report C Clarke 2-7 (1-0pen, 5f, 1 '65'), C McCann 1-1, N McKenna 0-3, D Nugent, J McNaughton 1-0 each, K Molloy 0-2, D McCloskey, P Burke, C Cunning 0-1 each. Referee: C McAllister (Cork)

Round 3
7 November 2020 Round 3A Carlow 1-22 – 1-21 Meath Netwatch Cullen Park
M Kavanagh (1-13), J Nolan (0-3), C Nolan (0-3), J Kavanagh (0-2), E Byrne (0-1). Report Report] J Regan 0-6 (1’65, 5f), P O’Hanrahan 0-4 (3f), D Kelly 0-3, D Healy 1-0, K Keoghan 0-2, J Walsh 0-2, A Douglas 0-1, D McGowan 0-1, A Gannon 0-1, P Conneely 0-1.
14 November 2020 Round 3B Antrim 3-18 - 2-14 Kerry Corrigan Park
C McCann (2-3); C Clarke (0-9, 7f); M Bradley (1-2); K Molloy (0-3); D McCloskey (0-1). Report S Conway (1-7, 3f); D Collins (1-2); T O’Connor, S Nolan, B Barrett, M Boyle, P Boyle (0-1 each). Referee: P Murphy (Carlow)

Round 4
21 November 2020 Round 4 Kerry 2-22 - 1-23 Carlow Tralee
S Conway (0-08, 0-03f, 0-01’65’), D Collins (2-01), M Boyle (0-04), M O’Leary (0-03), M O’Connor (0-02), M Leane (0-02), S Nolan (0-01), B Barrett (0-01). Report M Kavanagh (0-11, 0-11f), C Nolan (0-05), J Nolan (1-01), K McDonald (0-02), E Byrne (0-01), D Byrne (0-01), J Kavanagh (0-01), J Doyle (0-01). Stadium: Austin Stack Park
Attendance: 0
Referee: C McAllister (Cork)
21 November 2020 Round 4 Meath 1-19 - 2-20 Westmeath Navan
13:30 GMT P O’Hanrahan (0-8, 8 frees), J Walsh (1-2), A Gannon (0-3), J Regan (2f) (0-3 each), S Morris, A Douglas, K Keoghan (0-1 each). Report A Clarke (0-9, 7 frees), L Loughlin, S Williams (1-0 each), C Boyle, J Boyle (0-3 each), N Mitchell (0-2), R Greville, D Clinton, A Cox (0-1 each). Stadium: Páirc Tailteann
Attendance: 0
Referee: R McGann (Clare)

Round 5
28 November 2020 Round 5 Westmeath 1-21 - 2-13 Carlow Mullingar
A Clarke 0-13 (0-6 frees, 0-2 65s), C Boyle 0-4, N Mitchell 1-0, J Galvin 0-1, S Williams 0-1, B Murtagh 0-1, L Loughlin 0-1 Report C Nolan 0-5 (0-2 frees), J Nolan 1-1, JM Nolan 1-0, K McDonald 0-4 (0-3 frees), J Kavanagh 0-2, E Byrne 0-1. Stadium: TEG Cusack Park
Attendance: 0
28 November 2020 Round 5 Meath 3-10 - 2-30 Antrim Navan
13:30 GMT J Kelly 1-1, S Morris 1-0, D Healy 1-0 (1-0f), P O'Hanrahan 0-2 (0-1f, 0-1 65), A Douglas 0-2, J Walsh 0-1, P Potterton 0-1, K Keoghan 0-1, D Kelly 0-1 (0-1f), D McGowan 0-1. Report C Clarke 0-12 (0-10f), M Bradley 0-8, D McCloskey 1-0, N McKenna 1-0, C McCann 0-2, J McNaughton 0-2, N McKeague 0-2, E Campbell 0-1, R McGarry 0-1, D McMullan 0-1, D Nugent 0-1. Stadium: Páirc Tailteann
Attendance: 0
Referee: D Hughes (Kilkenny)

Final
13 December 2020 Final Kerry 1-17 - 0-22 Antrim Dublin
13:00 GMT S Conway (0-9, 0-8 frees); M Boyle (1-0); M O’Leary, D Collins (0-2 each); P O’Connor, C Harty, P Boyle, B O’Leary (0-1 each). Report C Clarke (0-11, 0-8 frees); N McManus (0-4, 0-2 ‘65s, 0-1 free); N McKenna, C Gunning (0-2 each); J McNaughton, C McCann, M Bradley (0-1 each). Stadium: Croke Park
Attendance: 0
Referee: L Gordon (Galway)

Statistics

Top scorers
Overall
Rank Player Club Tally Total Matches Average
1 Ciarán Clarke Antrim 4-47 59 5 11.80
2 Shane Conway Kerry 2-45 51 5 10.20
3 Martin Kavanagh Carlow 1-31 34 4 8.50
4 Aonghus Clarke Westmeath 0-23 23 4 5.75
5 Conor McCann Antrim 4-10 22 5 5.40
Pádraig O'Hanrahan Meath 0-22 22 4 5.50
6 Chris Nolan Carlow 0-18 18 4 4.50
7 Daniel Collins Kerry 3-05 14 4 3.50
Michael Bradley Antrim 1-11 14 3 4.66
8 Jack Regan Meath 0-13 13 3 4.33
In a single game
Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition
1 Martin Kavanagh Carlow 1-13 16 Meath
2 Shane Conway Kerry 1-12 15 Westmeath
3 Ciarán Clarke Antrim 2-08 14 Westmeath
4 Ciarán Clarke Antrim 2-07 13 Carlow
Aonghus Clarke Westmeath 0-13 13 Carlow
5 Ciarán Clarke Antrim 0-12 12 Meath
6 Martin Kavanagh Carlow 0-11 11 Kerry
Ciarán Clarke Antrim 0-11 11 Westmeath
7 Shane Conway Kerry 1-07 10 Antrim
8 Conor McCann Antrim 2-03 9 Kerry
Ciarán Clarke Antrim 0-09 9 Kerry
Shane Conway Kerry 0-09 9 Meath
Aonghus Clarke Westmeath 0-09 9 Meath
Shane Conway Kerry 0-09 9 Antrim

Reference
  1. Moran, Seán (30 September 2017). "GAA Congress approve round-robin provincial hurling championships". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  2. Cormican, Eoghan (13 December 2020). "Antrim see off Kerry to secure McDonagh Cup success at Croke Park". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  3. "Clarke points the way as Antrim celebrate Joe McDonagh Cup glory with win over Kerry". The 42. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  4. "ANTRIM 0-22 KERRY 1-17". GAA.ie. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  5. "McManus inspires Antrim". GAA. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  6. Devlin, Michael (10 May 2019). "Guide to the Joe McDonagh Cup". GAA. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  7. "Meath hurlers unveil new sponsor".
  8. Casserly, Mark (24 January 2019). "Aonghus Clarke named senior hurling captain for 2019". Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  9. O'Brien, Kevin (16 September 2019). "New era for Westmeath as Cooney and Quaid get the green light". Westmeath Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
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