1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

1998 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

Championship details
Dates	24 May - 13 September 1998
Teams	18
All-Ireland champions
Winning team	Offaly (4th win)
Captain	Hubert Rigney
Manager	Michael Bond
All-Ireland Finalists
Losing team	Kilkenny
Captain	Tom Hickey
Manager	Kevin Fennelly
Provincial champions
Munster	Clare
Leinster	Kilkenny
Ulster	Antrim
Connacht	Galway
Championship statistics
No. matches played	23
Top Scorer	John Troy (2-31)
Player of the Year	Tony Browne Brian Whelahan
All-Star Team	See here
← 1997 1999 →

The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship of 1998 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Guinness Hurling Championship 1998) was the 112th staging of Ireland's premier hurling competition. Offaly won the championship, beating Kilkenny 2-16 to 1-13 in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

Format[]

1998 was the second year that the controversial "back door" or qualifier system was used in the All-Ireland Championship. While the two provincial final winners automatically qualify for the All-Ireland semi-finals the two defeated provincial teams join Galway and the Ulster provincial final winners in two "quarter-finals". The two winners from these two games qualify for the semi-finals where they meet the Leinster and Munster winners. In 1998 Waterford and Offaly were the two teams to benefit from the qualifier system.

Semi-final controversy[]

The All-Ireland semi-final replay between Clare and Offaly ended in controversy and disarray when the referee, Jimmy Cooney, mistakenly ended the game five minutes earlier than he had intended. Clare were three points up, 1-16 to 2-10 at this point. When the whistle blew there was disarray in Croke Park as the disgruntled Offaly supporters began a sit-down protest on the pitch. A Kildare v. Kerry IHC game planned for afterwards had to be cancelled.

Clare manager Ger Loughnane was adamant that the result should stand as the referee's word should be deemed final. However, as the game hadn't been completed to 70 minutes, the Gaelic Athletic Association had to re-fix the semi final replay. In the re-fixture in Thurles 6 days later, the result was reversed with Offaly winning the game on a score of 0-16 to 0-13.

All-Ireland Final[]

As a result of the new Qualifier system of games for the second year in a row the All-Ireland final was contested by two teams from the same province. However, this year the final was a repeat of the Leinster final with Offaly taking on Kilkenny. Offaly were playing in their Third All-Ireland Final of the 1990s(having won against Limerick in 1994 and lost to Clare in 1995). Goals for Offaly reversed the Leinster final result and allowed the Offaly men to defeat "the Cats" heavily.

Provincial Championships[]

Connacht Senior Hurling Championship[]

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Leinster Senior Hurling Championship[]

Quarter-Finals				Semi-Finals				Final
				Offaly	1-15
Offaly	4-28			Wexford	0-17
Meath	0-08							Kilkenny	3-10
								Offaly	1-11
				Kilkenny	3-11
Dublin	0-14			Laois	1-14
Kilkenny	4-23

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Munster Senior Hurling Championship[]

Quarter-Finals				Semi-Finals				Final
				Waterford	0-21
Kerry	1-09			Tipperary	2-12
Waterford	1-20							Clare	1-16, 2-16
								Waterford	3-10, 0-10
				Clare	0-21
Limerick	3-11			Cork	0-13
Cork	1-20

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Ulster Senior Hurling Championship[]

	Semi-Finals				Final
	Antrim	0-19, 6-28
	London	0-19, 1-07
					Antrim	1-19
					Derry	2-13
	Derry	2-17
	Down	0-18

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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship[]

Bracket

Quarter-Finals

Semi-Finals

Final

1L

Kilkenny

1-11

2M

Waterford

1-20

2M

Waterford

1-10

1C

Galway

1-10

1L

Kilkenny

1-13

2L

Offaly

2-16

2L

Offaly

0-16

2L

Offaly

2-18

1M

Clare

0-13

1U

Antrim

2-09

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Offaly

Kilkenny

Top scorers[]

Season[]

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	John Troy	Offaly	2-31	37	8	4.62
2	Paul Flynn	Waterford	1-30	33	6	5.50
3	Jamesie O'Connor	Clare	0-32	32	5	6.40
4	D. J. Carey	Kilkenny	3-22	31	5	6.20
5		Antrim	1-27	30	4	7.50
6	Brian Whelehan	Offaly	2-22	28	8	3.50
7	Joe Dooley	Offaly	1-21	24	8	3.00
8	Ollie Collins	Derry	0-22	22	2	11.00
9	Charlie Carter	Kilkenny	2-14	20	5	41.00
10	Tony Browne	Waterford	1-17	20	6	3.33

Single game[]

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1		Galway	1-13	16	Roscommon
2	John Troy	Offaly	1-9	12	Meath
	Ollie Collins	Derry	0-12	12	Down
4	D. J. Carey	Kilkenny	1-8	11	Dublin
5	Paul Flynn	Waterford	0-10	10	Tipperary
		London	0-10	10	Antrim
		Antrim	0-10	10	Derry
	Ollie Collins	Derry	0-10	10	Antrim
9	Paul Codd	Wexford	0-9	9	Offaly
	John Troy	Offaly	1-6	9	Kilkenny

External links[]

• All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 1998 Results

See also[]