2019 Joe McDonagh Cup

2019 Joe McDonagh Cup
Dates	11 May 2019 - 30 June 2019
Teams	5
Champions	Laois (1st title); Patrick Purcell (captain); Eddie Brennan (manager)
Runners-up	Westmeath; Aonghus Clarke (captain); Joe Quaid (manager)
Relegated	Offaly
Tournament statistics
Matches played	11
Goals scored	40 (3.64 per match)
Points scored	442 (40.18 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Killian Doyle (3-61)
← 2018 (Previous)	(Next) 2020 →

The 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup was the second staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018.^[1] The fixtures were announced on 11 October 2018.^[2] The competition began on 11 May 2019 and ended on 30 June 2019.

On 30 June 2019, Laois won the Joe McDonagh Cup following a 3-26 to 1-21 defeat of Westmeath in the final at Croke Park.^[3] This was their first ever Joe McDonagh Cup title.

Offaly were relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup after losing all of their group stage games.^[4]

Westmeath's Killian Doyle was the competition's top scorer with 3-61.

Teams and venues[]

Five teams competed in the 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup - a reduction from six that competed in the inaugural competition.^[5]

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Antrim	Ballycastle	Páirc Mac Uílín	4,900
Kerry	Tralee	Austin Stack Park	12,000
Laois	Portlaoise	O'Moore Park	27,000
Offaly	Tullamore	O'Connor Park	20,000
Westmeath	Mullingar	Cusack Park	11,000

Personnel and colours[]

Team	Sponsor	Captain	Manager(s)
Antrim	Fona Cab	Conor McCann	Neal Peden ^[6]
Kerry	Kerry Group	Martin Stackpoole ^[7]	Fintan O'Connor
Laois	MW Hire Services	Patrick Purcell	Eddie Brennan^[8]
Offaly	Carroll Cuisine	Pat Camon	Kevin Martin (to 20 May) Joachim Kelly (from 20 May)^[9]
Westmeath	Renault	Aonghus Clarke^[10]	Joe Quaid^[11]

Competition Format[]

Initially each of the five teams play the other four teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games 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 top two teams also compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final.

Promotion to Leinster or Munster SHC

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, they must win a play-off with the bottom-placed team in the Munster Championship to gain promotion to the following year's Munster Championship.

Relegation

The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup, Offaly are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the 2019 Christy Ring Cup Champions, Meath.^[12]^[13]

Group Stage[]

Table[]

Key to colours
	Advance to Joe McDonagh Cup final
	Relegation

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	SF	SA	Diff	Pts
1	Laois (Q)	4	3	1	0	12-85	6-83	+20	7
2	Westmeath (Q)	4	2	1	1	6-85	2-78	+19	5
3	Antrim	4	2	0	2	7-82	6-85	0	4
4	Kerry	4	2	0	2	3-74	11-68	-18	4
5	Offaly (R)	4	0	0	4	8-69	11-81	-21	0

Rounds 1 to 5[]

Round 1[]

11 May 2019 ^[14] Round 1	Antrim	3-19 (28) – (14) 0-14	Kerry	Dunloy
17:00		(HT: 1-7 – 0-9)		Venue: Pearse Park
	Gls: N McKeague 1, C Clarke 1, N Elliott 1 Pts: P Burke 1, N McManus 4 (4f), J McNaughton 2 (2f), R McCambridge 1, K Molloy 3, C Clarke 1, C McCann 2, E O'Neill 2, J Maskey 1, D Kearney 1, K Rice 1	Report	Pts: T O'Connor 1, C Harty 1, S Conway 10 (10f), M O'Leary 2,	Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway) ^[15]

11 May 2019 ^[16] Round 1	Offaly	3-21 (30) – (34) 4-22	Laois	Tullamore
19:00		(HT: 1-10 – 0-13)		Venue: Bord na Móna O'Connor Park
	Gls: C Mahon 1, O Kelly 2 Pts: J Bergin 11 (7f), O Kelly 3, C Gath 1, N Houlihan 1, D O’Toole Greene 1, K Dunne 1, Colin Egan 1, C Mahon 1, C Langton 1	Report	Gls: C Dwyer 1, P Purcell 1, E Lyons 1, S Bergin 1 Pts: M Kavanagh 11 (8f, 1sl), R King 4, C Dwyer 3, W Dunphy 1, P Purcell 1, E Lyons 1, C Phelan 1	Referee: Colum Cunning (Antrim) ^[17]

Round 2[]

18 May 2019 ^[18] Round 2	Laois	2-24 (30) – (22) 1-19	Antrim	Portlaoise
15:00		(HT: 2-13 - 0-09)		Venue: O'Moore Park
	Gls: W Dunphy 1, P Purcell 1 Pts: M Kavanagh 7 (4f, 2 65s), C Dwyer 5, Enda Rowland 3 (3f), A Dunphy 2, J Kelly 2, J Lennon 1, M Whelan 1, E Killeen 1, S Bergin 1	Report	Gls: N McManus 1 (1f) Pts: R McCambridge 4, N McManus 3 (1f, 1 65), J McNaughton 3 (3f) K Molloy 3, E O’Neill 2, C Clarke 2, P Burke 1, D Kearney 1	Referee: Patrick Murphy (Carlow)

18 May 2019 ^[19] Round 2	Westmeath	3-18 (27) – (14) 0-14	Offaly	Mullingar
15:00		(HT: 1-13 - 0-05)		Venue: TEG Cusack Park
	Gls: J Boyle 1, Killian Doyle 1, D McNicholas 1 Pts: K Doyle 12 (6f), D McNicholas 3 (1f), A Clarke 1, J Boyle 1, D Clinton 1,	Report	Pts: J Bergin 9 (6f, 1 65), K Dunne 1, M Egan 1, S Dooley 1 (1f), C Kiely 1, S Kinsella 1	Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick)

Round 3[]

25 May 2019 Round 3	Westmeath	2-16 (22) – (24) 1-21	Kerry	Mullingar
15:00				Venue: TEG Cusack Park
	Gls: K Doyle 1, A Devine 1 Pts: K Doyle 11 (8fs), D Clinton 2, R Greville 1, S Clavin 1, E Price 1.	Report	Gls: C Harty 1 Pts: S Conway 13 (7fs, 2 '65s), J Conway 3, P Kelly 1, M O’Leary 1, C Harty 1, J O’Connor 1, P Boyle 1.	Referee: P Murphy (Carlow)

1 June 2019 Round 3	Offaly	4-18 (30) – (32) 3-23	Antrim	Tullamore
15:00				Venue: Bord na Móna O'Connor Park
	Gls: O Kelly 2, J Bergin 1, S Cleary 1 Pts: J Bergin 5 (3f, 2 ‘65s), A Treacy 3, O Kelly 2, P Geraghty 2, E Cahill 1 (f), K Connolly 1, C Kiely 1, P Murphy 1, D Nally 1.	Report	Gls: K Molloy 2, N Elliott 1 Pts: N McManus 10 (7f), J McNaughton 4, C Clarke 3, E Campbell 3, N Elliot 1, N McKeague 1, J Maskey 1.	Referee: L Gordon (Galway)

Round 4[]

8 June 2019 Round 4	Kerry	1-21 (24) – (32) 5-17	Laois	Tralee
15:00				Venue: Austin Stack Park
	Gls: P Boyle 1. Pts: S Conway 10 (6f, 3 '65s), P Boyle 5, M Leary 2, J O'Connor 1, D Collins 1, J Goulding 1, M Boyle 1.	Report	Gls: A Dunphy 1, C Dwyer 1, N Foyle 1, R King 1, P Purcell 1. Pts: S Maher 6 (5f), A Dunphy 3, C Dwyer 3, N Foyle 2, R King 1, J Kelly 1, W Dunphy 1.	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

8 June 2019 Round 4	Antrim	0-21 (21) – (29) 0-29	Westmeath	Dunloy
15:00		(HT: 0-9 - 0-15)		Venue: Pearse Park
	Pts: N McManus 13 (12 frees, 1 65), J McNaughton 3, K Molloy 1, P Burke 1, N Elliott 1, E O'Neill 1, N McKeague 1 (65)	Report	Pts: K Doyle 17 (9 frees, 2 65s), R Greville 3, C Boyle 2, C Doyle 2, D McNicholas 1, A Devine 1, J Boyle 1, L Varley 1, D Clinton 1

Round 5[]

15 June 2019 Round 5	Kerry	1-18 (21) – (19) 1-16	Offaly	Tralee
15:00				Venue: Austin Stack Park
	Gls: P Boyle 1 Pts: S Conway 11 (11f), J Conway 2, C Harty 2, P Boyle 1, P Kelly 1, J Goulding 1	Report	Gls: S Dooley 1 Pts: S Dooley 6 (6f), S Cleary 4, E Cahill 2 (2f), C Kiely 1, K Connolly 1, J Bergin 1, J Gorman 1	Referee: C Lyons (Cork)

15 June 2019 Round 5	Laois	1-22 (25) – (25) 1-22	Westmeath	Portlaoise
15:00				Venue: O'Moore Park
	Gls: M Dowling 1 Pts: S Maher 7 (2f, 1'65), R King 4, J Kelly 3, E Gaughan 3 (1f), S Bergin 2, C Stapleton 1, E Rowland 1 (1f), M Whelan 1	Report	Gls: R Greville 1 Pts: K Doyle 10 (9f, 1'65), R Greville 2, D Clinton 4, J Boyle 2, G Greville 1, C Doyle 1, A Devine 1, A Clarke 1	Referee: P Murphy (Carlow)

Final[]

30 June 2019
13:45
Joe McDonagh Cup Final

report

Laois	3-26 (35) – (24) 1-21	Westmeath
(HT: 2-11 - 1-10)
Gls: R King 1, A Dunphy 1, S Bergin 1. Pts: M Kavanagh (6f) 12, A Dunphy 4, E Lyons 3, J Lennon 2, C Dwyer 2, N Foyle 2, P Purcell 1.		Gls: K Doyle 1. Pts: K Doyle (6f) 11, C Doyle 2, S Clavin 1, A Clarke 1, C Boyle 1, A Devine 1, D McNicholas 1, L Varley 1, J Boyle 1, E Price 1.

Croke Park, Dublin
Referee: C Cunning (Antrim)

Statistics[]

Top scorers[]

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	3-61	70	5	14.00
2	Shane Conway	Kerry	0-44	44	4	11.00
3	Neil McManus	Antrim	1-30	33	4	8.25
4	Mark Kavanagh	Laois	0-30	30	3	10.00
5	Joe Bergin	Offaly	1-26	29	4	7.25
6	Cha Dwyer	Laois	2-13	19	4	4.75
7	Ross King	Laois	2-09	15	5	3.00
7	Aaron Dunphy	Laois	2-09	15	5	3.00
8	Oisín Kelly	Offaly	4-05	17	4	4.25
9	Keelan Molloy	Antrim	2-07	13	4	3.25
	Pádraig Boyle	Kerry	2-07	13	4	4.25
	Stephen Maher	Laois	0-13	13	3	4.33

Top scorers in a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	0-17	17	Antrim
2	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	1-12	15	Offaly
3	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	1-11	14	Kerry
3	Killian Doyle	Westmeath	1-11	14	Laois
4	Neil McManus	Antrim	0-13	13	Westmeath
4	Shane Conway	Kerry	0-13	13	Westmeath
5	Mark Kavanagh	Laois	0-12	12	Westmeath
6	Joe Bergin	Offaly	0-11	11	Laois
	Mark Kavanagh	Laois	0-11	11	Offaly
	Shane Conway	Kerry	0-11	11	Offaly

References[]

^ Moran, Seán (30 September 2017). "GAA Congress approve round-robin provincial hurling championships". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
^ "2019 Joe McDonagh Cup draw". GAA website. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
^ Graham, Brendan (30 June 2019). "Laois produce stunning second half display to capture Joe McDonagh Cup". The 42. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
^ Murphy, Murt (15 June 2019). "Offaly relegated to third tier of All-Ireland hurling for 2020 after loss to Kerry". The 42. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
^ "McManus inspires Antrim". GAA. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ Devlin, Michael (10 May 2019). "Guide to the Joe McDonagh Cup". GAA. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
^ Devlin, Michael (10 May 2019). "Guide to the Joe McDonagh Cup". GAA. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
^ "Kilkenny legend Eddie Brennan ratified as Laois senior boss for 2019". RTÉ. 10 Sep 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
^ "More woe for Offaly hurling as they replace management in bid to avoid relegation". The 42. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
^ Casserly, Mark (24 January 2019). "Aonghus Clarke named senior hurling captain for 2019". Retrieved 10 May 2019.
^ O'Brien, Kevin (16 September 2019). "New era for Westmeath as Cooney and Quaid get the green light". Westmeath Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
^ "Offaly relegated to third tier of All-Ireland hurling for 2020 after loss to Kerry". The 42. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
^ "Meath lift Christy Ring title while Leitrim crowned Lory Meagher champions". The 42. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
^ "Antrim 3-19 0-14 Kerry".
^ "Antrim 3-19 0-14 Kerry".
^ "Brennan names Laois Senior hurling team for Joe McDonagh Cup opener against Offaly".
^ "Offaly 3-21 4-22 Laois".
^ "Laois 2-24 1-19 Antrim".
^ "Westmeath 3-18 0-14 Offaly".

[1] Moran, Seán (30 September 2017). "GAA Congress approve round-robin provincial hurling championships". Irish Times. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

[2] "2019 Joe McDonagh Cup draw". GAA website. 11 October 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2019.

[3] Graham, Brendan (30 June 2019). "Laois produce stunning second half display to capture Joe McDonagh Cup". The 42. Retrieved 2 July 2019.

[4] Murphy, Murt (15 June 2019). "Offaly relegated to third tier of All-Ireland hurling for 2020 after loss to Kerry". The 42. Retrieved 2 July 2019.

[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] Devlin, Michael (10 May 2019). "Guide to the Joe McDonagh Cup". GAA. Retrieved 10 May 2019.

[8] "Kilkenny legend Eddie Brennan ratified as Laois senior boss for 2019". RTÉ. 10 Sep 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2019.

[9] "More woe for Offaly hurling as they replace management in bid to avoid relegation". The 42. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

[10] Casserly, Mark (24 January 2019). "Aonghus Clarke named senior hurling captain for 2019". Retrieved 10 May 2019.

[11] O'Brien, Kevin (16 September 2019). "New era for Westmeath as Cooney and Quaid get the green light". Westmeath Independent. Retrieved 8 May 2019.

[12] "Offaly relegated to third tier of All-Ireland hurling for 2020 after loss to Kerry". The 42. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.

[13] "Meath lift Christy Ring title while Leitrim crowned Lory Meagher champions". The 42. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 25 June 2019.

[14] "Antrim 3-19 0-14 Kerry".

[15] "Antrim 3-19 0-14 Kerry".

[16] "Brennan names Laois Senior hurling team for Joe McDonagh Cup opener against Offaly".

[17] "Offaly 3-21 4-22 Laois".

[18] "Laois 2-24 1-19 Antrim".

[19] "Westmeath 3-18 0-14 Offaly".

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v t Joe McDonagh Cup
2021 participants	Carlow Down Kerry Kildare Meath Westmeath
Seasons	2018 2019 2020 2021
Finals	2020
Liam MacCarthy Cup (Tier 1) Joe McDonagh Cup (Tier 2) Christy Ring Cup (Tier 3) Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 4) Lory Meagher Cup (Tier 5)