2005 Christy Ring Cup

2005 Christy Ring Cup

Dates	4 June 2005 - 14 August 2005
Teams	10
Champions	Westmeath (1stth title) John Shaw (captain) Séamus Qualter (manager)
Runners-up	Down Simon Wilson (captain) John Crossey (manager)
Relegated	Derry
Tournament statistics
Matches played	26
Goals scored	104 (4 per match)
Points scored	759 (29.19 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Mattie Dowd (2-39)
(Next) 2006 →

The 2005 Christy Ring Cup began on Saturday, 4 June 2005. 2005 was the first time this new element of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was introduced. It was devised by the Hurling Development Committee to encourage some of the so-called "weaker" hurling counties and to give them the chance of playing more games. It is in effect a "Division 2" for hurling teams in Ireland. The final was played on Sunday, 14 August when Westmeath beat Down at Croke Park, Dublin.

Format

Ten counties contested this year's inaugural competition for the Christy Ring Cup — the prize for the winners of the new Tier Two of the Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Championship. The inaugural competition involved the current middle rank of hurling counties:

• Leinster: Carlow, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Wicklow
• Ulster: Down and Derry
• Connacht: Roscommon and Mayo
• Munster: Kerry

These 10 counties are divided into two groups of five and play in a round-robin format, guaranteeing at least four games each. The eventual group winners and runners-up will qualify for the semi-finals of the Christy Ring Cup. The prize for the winners of the final on August 14 will be promotion to Tier One of the Hurling Championship to contest the Liam McCarthy Cup the following year. Westmeath were the champions so they will play in the Leinster Championship in 2006.

The bottom two teams of both groups will be involved in a four-way relegation play-off with the eventual loser being relegated to Tier Three of the championship. Derry was the team that was relegated from the competition so they will play in the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2006.

Results

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts	Status
Down	4	3	0	1	14-72	9-57	30	6	Advanced to the semi-finals
Westmeath	4	3	0	1	10-64	8-49	21	6
Meath	4	2	1	1	9-67	7-52	21	5	Remained in the Christy Ring Cup for 2006
Roscommon	4	1	0	3	4-46	13-83	-64	2	Contested the relegation playoffs
Derry	4	0	1	3	7-49	7-57	-8	1

Derry v Down

11 June 2005 Round 1	Derry	3-14 - 3-17	Down	Lavey Sportsfield
		Report

Westmeath v Roscommon

11 June 2005 Round 1	Westmeath	4-19 - 0-11	Roscommon	Cusack Park
	A Mitchell 1-7, B Kennedy 1-3, D McNicholas 1-2 (1 sl), J Clarke 1-1, B Connaughton, P Dowdall, B Connaughton, E Loughlin, D McCormack, J Shaw 0-1 each.	Report	M R Mulrey 0-5, D Mulvey 0-3, Connaughton, G Waldron, D Lohan 0-1 each.

Roscommon v Derry

18 June 2005 Round 2	Roscommon	1-15 - 1-13	Derry	Athleague Sportsfield
	R Mulry 0-8 (6f), T Reddington 1-0, J Moran, L Murray 0-2 each, M Connaughton, M Brehony, B Hanley 0-1 each.	Report	G Biggs 0-7 (4f), R Convery 1-2 (1f), R Kennedy 0-2, C Quinn, P Quinn 0-1 each.

Meath v Westmeath

18 June 2005 Round 2	Meath	3-16 - 2-10	Westmeath	Páirc Tailteann
	J Toole 1-4, P Coone 1-1, N Horan 0-4, N Reilly 1-0, S Clynch, M Cole, D Kirby 0-2 each, P Fagan 0-1.	Report	D McNicholas 1-3, A Mitchell 0-3, N Gavin 1-0, E Loughlin 0-2, B Connaughton, D McCormack 0-1 each.

Derry v Meath

25 June 2005 Round 3	Derry	1-14 - 2-11	Meath	Dean McGlinchey Park

Down v Roscommon

25 June 2005 Round 3	Down	5-25 - 2-8	Roscommon	McKenna Park
	M Coulter 1-6, S Clarke 1-2, P Braniff 1-3, A Savage 1-1, B McGourty 0-4, G Adair 1-0, G Johnson 0-3, E Clarke 0-2, S Wilson 0-2, G Savage 0-1, C Coulter 0-1.	Report	D Lohan 1-1, J Moran 1-0, D Mulvey 0-3, M Connaughton 0-1, L Murray 0-1, B Hanley 0-1.

Meath v Down

2 July 2005 Round 4	Meath	1-14 - 3-16	Down	Páirc Tailteann

Westmeath v Derry

2 July 2005 Round 4	Westmeath	1-14 - 2-8	Derry	Cusack Park

Down v Westmeath

16 July 2005 Round 5	Down	3-14 - 3-21	Westmeath	Páirc Esler

Roscommon v Meath

16 July 2005 Round 5	Roscommon	1-12 - 3-26	Meath	Athleague Sportsfield

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts	Status
Kildare	4	3	0	1	11-54	7-50	16	6	Advanced to the semi finals
Carlow	4	3	0	1	5-50	5-53	-3	6
Kerry	4	2	1	1	12-59	8-46	25	5	Remained in the Christy Ring Cup for 2006
Wicklow	4	1	1	2	8-55	10-49	0	3	Contested the relegation playoffs
Mayo	4	0	0	4	7-41	13-61	-38	0

Kildare v Kerry

4 June 2005 Round 1	Kildare	4-12 - 1-17	Kerry	Naas
	M Dowd (0-6, 3f, 1 ‘65’), A Quinn (2-0), J Dempsey (1-0), B Byrne (1-0), T Carew (0-3, 1f), A McAndrew (0-2), Colm Buggy (0-1).	Report	M Conway (0-12, 11f), E Sheehy (1-0), E Tuohy (0-1), S Sheehan (0-1), JM Dooley (0-1), I McCarthy (0-1), S Brick (0-1).

Carlow v Wicklow

4 June 2005 Round 1	Carlow	2-13 - 1-13	Wicklow	Dr. Cullen Park
	Pat Coady 0-9, M Brennan 2-1, D Murphy 0-2, R Dunbar 0-1.		J O’Neill 1-4, J Keogh 0-3, D Hyland 0-2, A Tiernan 0-1, C Kavanagh 0-1.	Referee: A Stapleton (Laois)

Wicklow v Kildare

11 June 2005 Round 2	Wicklow	2-12 - 2-13	Kildare	Pearse Park
	J O'Neill 2-4, D Hyland 0-5, A Tiernan, J Murphy, W O'Gorman 0-1 each	Report	M Dowd 0-9 (4f), A McAndrew, B White 1-0 each, T Carnew 0-2 (2f), C Buggy, J Dempsey.

Carlow v Mayo

12 June 2005 Round 2	Carlow	1-12 - 0-13	Mayo	Pearse Stadium
	Des Murphy (1-2), P Coady (0-4, two frees), C English (0-2, frees), D Shaw (0-1), D Roberts (0-1, from a 65), P Kehoe (0-1), B Lawler (0-1).	Report	A Freeman (0-6, three frees), K Higgins (0-3, one free), K Healy (0-1), S Broderick (0-1), D McConn (0-1), K Robinson (0-1).

Kildare v Mayo

25 June 2005 Round 3	Kildare	4-17 - 4-4	Mayo	Naas
	M Dowd 1-9 (4 65s, 3f); R Coyle 2-0; J Dempsey 1-0; A McAndrew 0-2; J Brennan, A Quinn, B White, C Buggy, D Harney, T Murphy 0-1 each.	Report	K Higgins 1-2 (1-0 pen 2 frees); K Healy, S Broderick, A Howard 1-0 each; S Lenihan 0-2 (1f).

Kerry v Wicklow

9 July 2005 Round 3	Kerry	3-11 - 2-14	Wicklow	Austin Stack Park
	M Conway 0-6 (0-5 frees), J M Dooley 1-3, E Fitzgeerald 1-0, E Touhy 1-0, P Randles 0-2.	Report	W Gorman 2-1, D Hyland 0-4 (0-1 free), J O’Neill 0-4 (0-2 frees), J Murphy 0-2, J Bermingham 0-2, B Rickerby 0-1.

Kerry v Mayo

2 July 2005 Round 4	Kerry	5-16 - 0-12	Mayo	Pearse Stadium
	M Conway (2-8, 5f), JM Dooley (3-3), S Brick (0-2), S Sheehan (0-2), P Randles (0-1).	Report	A Freeman (0-6f), G White (0-1), D McConn (0-1f), B Delaney (0-1), K Healy (0-1), S Broderick (0-1), R Campion (0-1).

Carlow v Kildare

6 July 2005 Round 4	Carlow	0-17 - 1-12	Kildare	Dr. Cullen Park
	P Coady (0-13, 11 frees, 2, 65's), M Brennan (0-1), R Dunbar (0-1), S McMahon (0-1), D Murphy (0-1),	Report	M Dowd (1-8, 1-5 frees), A (0-2), R Coyle (0-1), C Buggy (0-1).

Kerry v Carlow

6 July 2005 Round 5	Kerry	3-15 - 2-8	Carlow	Austin Stack Park
	M Conway 0-8 ( 0-5 frees), J M Dooley 1-2, D Young and E Tuohy 1-0 each, J Egan and P Lyons 0-2 each, T Flynn 0-1 free.	Report	P Coady 0-6 ( 0-5 frees), B Lawler 1-1, M Brennan 1-0 R Dunbar 0-1.

Wicklow v Mayo

16 July 2005 Round 5	Wicklow	3-16 - 3-12	Mayo	Pearse Park
	J O'Neill (1-7), D Hyland (1-5), D Moran (1-0), B Rickerby (0-1), T Collins (0-1).	Report	S Duffy (1-1), P Reape (1-1), S Broderick (0-4), A Freeman (0-4), D McConn (1-0), D Kirby (0-2).

Relegation playoffs

Wicklow v Derry

30 July 2005 Semi-final	Wicklow	2-27 - 3-22	Derry	Páirc Tailteann
	D Hyland 1-4, J O’Neill 0-6, J Murphy 0-4, W O’Gorman 1-1, L Kennedy 0-2, A Tiernan 0-2, T Collins 0-2, B Rickerby 0-2, G Birmingham 0-1, P Lee 0-1, TJ Byrne 0-1.		Gregory Biggs 0-12, J O’Dwyer 2-0, F McGuigan 1-0, Gary Biggs, R Kennedy, C Quinn, P Quigg 0-2 each, P O’Kane, P Sweeney, K Kelly 0-1 each.

Roscommon v Mayo

31 July 2005 Semi-final	Roscommon	1-13 - 0-15	Mayo	Athleague Sportsfield
	D Mulvey 0-6, G Waldron 1-0, M Connaughton 0-2, C Kelly 0-2, R Mulvey 0-1, J Moran 0-1, D Lohan 0-1.		A Freeman 0-9, S Broderick 0-4, S Coyne, A Hession 0-1.

Mayo v Derry

13 August 2005 Final	Mayo	4-14 - 1-10	Derry	Markievicz Park
	K Higgins 2-3, K Healy 2-2, S Leneghan 0-2, A Freeman 0-4 (all frees), S Broderick 0-2, G White 0-1.	Report	J O'Dwyer 1-3, G Biggs 0-3 (2 f '65'), P Convery 0-2, S McBride, C Quinn 0-1 each.	Referee: A Heagney (Clare)

Semi-finals

Westmeath v Kildare

30 July 2005 Semi-final	Westmeath	7-14 - 1-12	Kildare	Páirc Tailteann
	J Shaw 3-2, A Mitchell 0-5, K Cosgrove, R Wheelan, J Clarke 1-1 each, D Carty 1-0, E Loughlin, B Kennedy, D McNicholas, D Devine 0-1 each.	Report	M Dowd 0-7, A McAndrew 0-3, J Dempsey 1-0, T Carew, D Harney 0-1 each.	Referee: D Connolly (Kilkenny)

Down v Carlow

31 July 2005 Semi-final	Down	4-23 - 1-11	Carlow	Parnell Park
	M Coulter 1-7 (1-6f), P Braniff 2-4, G Johnson 1-3, S Wilson 0-3 (2f), B McGourty 0-2, G Savage, A Savage, S Clarke (f), E Clarke 0-1 each.	Report	P Coady 0-5 (4f), D Murphy 1-1, R Dunbar, D Roberts, K English, M Brennan, R Foley 0-1	Referee: T Ryan (Tipperary)

Final

Westmeath v Down

14 August 2005 Final	Westmeath	1-23 - 2-18	Down	Croke Park
	A Mitchell 0-9 (8f, 0-1 '65'), J Shaw 1-3, E Loughlin 0-4, B Kennedy, K Cosgrove, B Murtagh 0-2 each, R Whelan 0-1.	Report	M Coulter 0-8 (8f), G Johnson 1-3, S Clarke 1-1, B McGourty 0-2, E Clarke, G Adair, A Savage, F Wilson 0-1 each.	Referee: D Richardson (Limerick)

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Mattie Dowd	Kildare	2-39	45	5	9.00
2	Martin Coulter	Down	2-35	41	6	6.83
3	Pat Coady	Carlow	0-37	37	5	7.40