2005 Nicky Rackard Cup

The 2005 Nicky Rackard Cup began on Saturday, 18 June 2005. 2005 was the first time the Nicky Rackard Cup was introduced into the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. 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 3" for hurling teams in Ireland. The final was played on Sunday, 21 August when London beat Louth in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

Format

Twelve teams participated in the "Nicky Rackard Cup 2005". The teams were divided into three groups of four based on geographical criteria. These groups were:

Group 3A: Sligo, Tyrone, Donegal and Fermanagh
Group 3B: Louth, Cavan, Armagh and Leitrim
Group 3C: London, Warwickshire, Longford and Monaghan

The group winners advance to the semi-finals. The runners-up in Groups 3C and 3B meet in the quarter-final playoff, with the winner meeting the runner-up of Group 3A in the quarter-final.

Team changes

To Championship

Transferred from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship and the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship

Group stage

Group A

	Team									Qualification
1	Donegal	3	3	0	0	14-43	5-25	45	6	Advance to Semi-Finals
2	Tyrone	3	2	0	1	8-44	10-30	8	4	Advance to Quarter-Final
3	Sligo	3	1	0	2	10-27	10-44	-17	2
4	Fermanagh	3	0	0	3	5-30	12-45	-36	0

Group B

	Team									Qualification
1	Louth	3	3	0	0	9-51	4-28	38	6	Advance to Semi-Finals
2	Armagh	3	2	0	1	12-42	6-26	34	4	Advance to Quarter-Final playoff
3	Cavan	2	0	0	2	3-13	5-37	-30	0
4	Leitrim	2	0	0	2	3-21	12-36	-42	0

Group C

	Team									Qualification
1	London	3	3	0	0	2-64	5-29	26	6	Advance to Semi-Finals
2	Longford	3	2	0	1	6-38	4-36	8	4	Advance to Quarter-Final playoff
3	Monaghan	3	1	0	2	4-36	5-42	-9	2
4	Warwickshire	3	0	0	3	4-24	2-55	-25	0

Knockout stage

Final

London are promoted to the 2006 Christy Ring Cup.

Match details

The 2005 Nicky Rackard Cup final was used as a curtain raiser for the semi-final of the 2005 Liam MacCarthy Cup. London won the game by a margin of 15 points.
At half time, thanks to two goals in the space of a minute from Barry Shortall and Kevin McMullan, London led by 2-04 to 0-05. Ten minutes into the second half, London re-opened the scoring for a 2-05 to 0-05 lead. Louth subsequently scored what would be their only goal - and only score of the second half. On 57 minutes, McMullan scored a further goal for London. Four minutes later, Sean Quinn kicked in London's fourth goal. Corner forward Dave Burke subsequently scored a fifth on 67 minutes. Burke clipped over a 65 and Gary Fenton added another point for London before the final whistle.
London: JJ Burke; E Phelan, T Simms, B Forde; J Dillon, F McMahon, B Foley 0-1; M Harding 0-01, M O'Meara; D Smyth, J Ryan, J McGaughan; D Bourke 1-04, B Shortall 1-00, K McMullan 2-01.
Subs: E Kinlon, G Fenton 0-01, S Quinn 1-00, P Doyle, P Finneran.
Louth: S Smith; D Black, A Carter, S Darcy; R Byrne, P Dunne, D Mulholland; D McCarthy, S Callan 0-02; T Hilliard, J Carter, D Byrne; G Smith 1-01, D Dunne 0-01, N McEneaney 0-01.
Subs: G Collins, S Byrne, A Mynes, N Byrne.
Referee: T Mahon.

Stadia and locations

County	Location	Province	Stadium	Capacity
Neutral	Dublin	Leinster	Croke Park	82,300
Armagh	Armagh	Ulster	Athletic Grounds	18,500
Cavan	Cavan	Ulster	Breffni Park	32,000
Donegal	Ballybofey	Ulster	MacCumhaill Park	18,000
Fermanagh	Enniskillen	Ulster	Brewster Park	18,000
Leitrim	Carrick-on-Shannon	Connacht	Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada	9,331
London	South Ruislip	Britain	McGovern Park	3,000
Longford	Longford	Leinster	Pearse Park	6,000
Louth	Drogheda	Leinster	Drogheda Park	3,500
Monaghan	Clones	Ulster	St Tiernach's Park	36,000
Sligo	Sligo	Connacht	Markievicz Park	18,558
Tyrone	Omagh	Ulster	Healy Park	17,636
Warwickshire	Solihull	Britain	Páirc na hÉireann	4,500

Statistics

Scoring events

Widest winning margin: 29 points
* Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh
Most goals in a match: 12
* Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh
Most points in a match: 34
* Louth 3-19 - 0-15 Leitrim
Most goals by one team in a match: 9
* Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh
Most points by one team in a match: 23
* London 1-23 - 1-06 Warwickshire
Highest aggregate score: 59 points
* Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh
Lowest aggregate score: 30 points
* Louth 3-10 - 1-08 Tyrone

Miscellaneous

London won their 1st championship in 10 years, last winning the 1995 All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship.