2018 Joe McDonagh Cup


The 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup was the inaugural staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The fixtures were announced on 13 April 2018. The competition began on 5 May 2018.
On 1 July 2018, Carlow won the title following a 2-26 to 1-24 defeat of Westmeath in the final. This was their second successive promotion within the various tiers of hurling, as they were also the 2017 Christy Ring Cup champions.
Meath were relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup after losing all of their group stage games.
Antrim's Neil McManus was the competition's top scorer with 3-67.

Teams

A total of six teams compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup, with representatives from Leinster, Munster and Ulster. As 2018 was the inaugural year, four of the teams previously played in the qualifier group of the 2017 Leinster Championship and two teams were the finalists in the 2017 Christy Ring Cup.
TeamColoursSponsorCaptainManagerLocationStadiumCapacity
AntrimCreagh ConcreteNeil McManusDominic McKinley
Terence McNaughton		BallycastlePáirc Mac Uílín
CarlowIT CarlowRichard CoadyColm BonnarCarlowDr. Cullen Park
KerryKerry GroupPádraig BoyleFintan O'ConnorTraleeAustin Stack Park
LaoisMW Hire ServicesRoss KingÉamonn KellyPortlaoiseO'Moore Park
MeathUnifluJames KellyNick FitzgeraldNavanPáirc Tailteann
WestmeathRenaultTommy DoyleMichael RyanMullingarCusack Park

Format

All six teams compete in an initial round-robin of five rounds where teams play each other once. The top two teams after the round robin stage 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. If the winner is a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the winner is a Munster team, in effect Kerry, 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.
In order to reduce the number of teams in the Joe McDonagh Cup to five in 2019, the bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and will not be replaced. The team that finishes second last in the 2018 Joe McDonagh Cup plays off against the 2018 Christy Ring Cup champions. The winner of that game plays in the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2019 and the losing team plays in the 2019 Christy Ring Cup.

Group Stage

Table

Rounds 1 to 5

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Final

Relegation/Promotion play-off

The bottom team after the round robin games, Meath, were relegated to the 2019 Christy Ring Cup.
The second-last team in the Joe McDonagh Cup, Antrim, defeated Kildare, the winners of the 2018 Christy Ring Cup final and thereby retained their place in the Joe McDonagh Cup.

Statistics

Top scorers

;Overall
RankPlayerCountyTallyTotalMatchesAverage
1Neil McManusAntrim3-6776612.66
2Denis MurphyCarlow0-505068.33
3Shane ConwayKerry0-363657.20
4Ross KingLaois0-353548.75
5Niall O'BrienWestmeath3-233265.33
6Allan DevineWestmeath2-243056.00
7Patrick ConneelyMeath1-222555.00
8Chris NolanCarlow1-212464.00
9James DoyleCarlow4-112363.83
10Jack ReganMeath1-182154.20

;In a single game
RankPlayerClubTallyTotalOpposition
1Neil McManusAntrim0-1717Kerry
2Neil McManusAntrim0-1313Westmeath
3Shane ConwayKerry0-1212Antrim
3Jack ReganMeath0-1212Antrim
4Nigel ElliottAntrim3-0211Meath
4Neil McManusAntrim1-0811Carlow
4Denis MurphyCarlow0-1111Antrim
4Neil McManusAntrim0-1111Laois
4Ross KingLaois0-1111Antrim
5Conor JohnstonAntrim2-0410Meath
5Patrick ConneelyMeath1-0710Carlow
5Ross KingLaois0-1010Westmeath
5Denis MurphyCarlow0-1010Westmeath
5Denis MurphyCarlow0-1010Westmeath

Miscellaneous