Hurling Tiers of Happiness or Frustration?

And then there were two. Six counties started out in the Joe McDonagh Cup back at the start of May - Antrim, Meath, Westmeath, Kerry, Carlow and Laois. Two remain to slug out the final on Sunday. Antrim face a relegation/promotion play off with Kildare in Armagh that already has generated rumblings of discontent and Meath are relegated. Next year under the current format, Offaly will join the ranks of the Joe McDonagh with Carlow or Westmeath promoted.
The competition by all accounts showcased some high quality hurling which unfortunately didn’t receive the broadcast coverage it deserved.
The final on Sunday clashes with the Munster hurling final which hasn’t endeared the fixture planners to hurling fans, and with Meath already relegated the hurlers of Antrim face off in Armagh on Saturday against Kildare, the winners of the Christy Ring Cup.
Asking a Cup winning team to play again to secure promotion or relegation has always smacked of afterthought and the likelihood of a successful team from a lower ending a season on a losing note. Both panels have just released a joint statement stating their dissatisfaction as players with aspects of the competition structure. Croke Park will point out that this is the structure that counties voted for in the Special Congress last autumn and the five team McDonagh format was always on the cards for 2019.
The winners of the Joe McDonagh progress onwards to Leinster championship status next season, while both finalists have the prospect of a preliminary quarter final against the third placed teams in the Munster and Leinster qualifying groups. Eliminated teams Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford and Offaly can only look on as two teams from the Joe McDonagh continuing their hurling into July.
It is not unfair or unrealistic to predict the outcomes there. Meanwhile, Offaly, after showing signs of rebirth and resurgence have a chance to regroup and rebuild in next year’s Joe McDonagh. How many seasons before a McDonagh top-two team wins a preliminary quarter final is anyone’s guess.
For the teams concerned it is probably no great surprise that after the jigs and the reels, the Carlow and Westmeath have emerged into the final. In the final round of group games Carlow recorded a solid six point victory over Saturday’s opponents with James Doyle bagging a hat trick including a penalty. Westmeath went into that game knowing they had already done enough to earn their final berth. Carlow for their part had to win or draw to ensure they escaped the trailing pack.
What of the others? Meath will be disappointed to face the drop back into the Christy Ring, the competition they won two years back, defeating Antrim in two finals. They could bounce right back.
Antrim will probably settle for their lot provided Kildare don’t take them out in Armagh on Saturday afternoon. The players have largely been back with their clubs, but there is an acceptance in the Glens and Belfast that the Saffrons need to be hurling at Joe McDonagh level. They were likely disappointed at their finishing slot.
Kildare for their part are looking enviously at the football sage and the issue of the home draw, wondering how many black cats they drove over this summer in winning the Christy Ring to earn a trip to the Athletic Grounds.
For Kerry, a final win in Cushendall earned them third slot, and for no either reason to see how they would have got on, a McDonagh win for the Kingdom would have been an eyebrow raiser, seeing them going to play Waterford.
Looking back to the other tiered competitions, it was no surprise to see Sligo pull away to win the Lory Meagher, defeating Lancashire for the second time in the competition when the teams met in the Final last weekend. Lancashire looked to have the victory in the bag but for Kevin Gilmartin’s injury time winner to complete his hat-trick and bring the Cup back to the Yeats County.
The tiered competitions have always favoured the Exiles and it was no surprise then to see Warwickshire in the Nicky Rackard Final after annexing the Lory Meagher last year against Leitrim. Powered by Gerry Gilmore and the freetaking of former Armagh player Declan Coulter, Donegal lifted the Nicky Rackard for only the second time in their history. They have been moving well with decent structures in place and can look forward to a tilt at the Christy Ring in 2019.
It is not unfeasible that over the winter some reconfiguration of these competitions will be considered as the players know the season inevitably ends in tiers which define the following season’s hurling.