2005 Christy Ring Cup

The 2005 Christy Ring Cup began on Saturday, 4 June 2005. 2005 was the first time this new element of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was introduced. 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 2" for hurling teams in Ireland. The final was played on Sunday, 14 August when Westmeath beat Down at Croke Park, Dublin.

Format

Ten counties contested this year's inaugural competition for the Christy Ring Cup — the prize for the winners of the new Tier Two of the Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Championship. The inaugural competition involved the current middle rank of hurling counties:

• Leinster: Carlow, Kildare, Meath, Westmeath and Wicklow
• Ulster: Down and Derry
• Connacht: Roscommon and Mayo
• Munster: Kerry

These 10 counties are divided into two groups of five and play in a round-robin format, guaranteeing at least four games each. The eventual group winners and runners-up will qualify for the semi-finals of the Christy Ring Cup. The prize for the winners of the final on August 14 will be promotion to Tier One of the Hurling Championship to contest the Liam McCarthy Cup the following year. Westmeath were the champions so they will play in the Leinster Championship in 2006.

The bottom two teams of both groups will be involved in a four-way relegation play-off with the eventual loser being relegated to Tier Three of the championship. Derry was the team that was relegated from the competition so they will play in the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2006.

Results

Key to colours in group tables
Group winners and runners-up advance to the semi-finals
Bottom two teams enter the relegation playoff semi-finals

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
Down	4	3	0	1	14-72	9-57	30	6
Westmeath	4	3	0	1	10-64	8-49	21	6
Meath	4	2	1	1	9-67	7-52	21	5
Roscommon	4	1	0	3	4-46	13-83	-64	2
Derry	4	0	1	3	7-49	7-57	-8	1

Round 1 June 11	Derry	3-14 - 3-17	Down	Lavey
		Report

Round 1 June 11	Westmeath	4-19 - 0-11	Roscommon	Cusack Park, Mullingar
	A Mitchell 1-7, B Kennedy 1-3, D McNicholas 1-2 (1 sl), J Clarke 1-1, B Connaughton, P Dowdall, B Connaughton, E Loughlin, D McCormack, J Shaw 0-1 each.	Report	M R Mulrey 0-5, D Mulvey 0-3, Connaughton, G Waldron, D Lohan 0-1 each.

Round 2 June 18	Roscommon	1-15 - 1-13	Derry	Athleague
	R Mulry 0-8 (6f), T Reddington 1-0, J Moran, L Murray 0-2 each, M Connaughton, M Brehony, B Hanley 0-1 each.	Report	G Biggs 0-7 (4f), R Convery 1-2 (1f), R Kennedy 0-2, C Quinn, P Quinn 0-1 each.

Round 2 June 18	Meath	3-16 - 2-10	Westmeath	Páirc Tailteann, Navan
	J Toole 1-4, P Coone 1-1, N Horan 0-4, N Reilly 1-0, S Clynch, M Cole, D Kirby 0-2 each, P Fagan 0-1.	Report	D McNicholas 1-3, A Mitchell 0-3, N Gavin 1-0, E Loughlin 0-2, B Connaughton, D McCormack 0-1 each.

Round 3 June 25	Derry	1-14 - 2-11	Meath	Dean McGlinchey Park, Ballinascreen

Round 3 June 25	Down	5-25 - 2-8	Roscommon	McKenna Park, Ballycran
	M Coulter 1-6, S Clarke 1-2, P Braniff 1-3, A Savage 1-1, B McGourty 0-4, G Adair 1-0, G Johnson 0-3, E Clarke 0-2, S Wilson 0-2, G Savage 0-1, C Coulter 0-1.	Report	D Lohan 1-1, J Moran 1-0, D Mulvey 0-3, M Connaughton 0-1, L Murray 0-1, B Hanley 0-1.

Round 4 July 2	Meath	1-14 - 3-16	Down	Páirc Tailteann, Navan

Round 4 July 2	Westmeath	1-14 - 2-8	Derry	Cusack Park

Round 5 July 16	Down	3-14 - 3-21	Westmeath	Páirc Esler, Newry

Round 5 July 16	Roscommon	1-12 - 3-26	Meath	Athleague

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
Kildare	4	3	0	1	11-54	7-50	16	6
Carlow	4	3	0	1	5-50	5-53	-3	6
Kerry	4	2	1	1	12-59	8-46	25	5
Wicklow	4	1	1	2	8-55	10-49	0	3
Mayo	4	0	0	4	7-41	13-61	-38	0

Round 1 June 4	Kildare	4-12 - 1-17	Kerry	Naas
	M Dowd (0-6, 3f, 1 ‘65’), A Quinn (2-0), J Dempsey (1-0), B Byrne (1-0), T Carew (0-3, 1f), A McAndrew (0-2), Colm Buggy (0-1).	Report	M Conway (0-12, 11f), E Sheehy (1-0), E Tuohy (0-1), S Sheehan (0-1), JM Dooley (0-1), I McCarthy (0-1), S Brick (0-1).

Round 1 June 4	Carlow	2-13 - 1-13	Wicklow	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow

Round 2 June 11	Wicklow	2-12 - 2-13	Kildare	Pearse Park, Arklow
	J O'Neill 2-4, D Hyland 0-5, A Tiernan, J Murphy, W O'Gorman 0-1 each	Report	M Dowd 0-9 (4f), A McAndrew, B White 1-0 each, T Carnew 0-2 (2f), C Buggy, J Dempsey.

Round 2 June 12	Carlow	1-12 - 0-13	Mayo	Pearse Stadium, Galway
	Des Murphy (1-2), P Coady (0-4, two frees), C English (0-2, frees), D Shaw (0-1), D Roberts (0-1, from a 65), P Kehoe (0-1), B Lawler (0-1).	Report	A Freeman (0-6, three frees), K Higgins (0-3, one free), K Healy (0-1), S Broderick (0-1), D McConn (0-1), K Robinson (0-1).

Round 3 June 25	Kildare	4-17 - 4-4	Mayo	Naas
	M Dowd 1-9 (4 65s, 3f); R Coyle 2-0; J Dempsey 1-0; A McAndrew 0-2; J Brennan, A Quinn, B White, C Buggy, D Harney, T Murphy 0-1 each.	Report	K Higgins 1-2 (1-0 pen 2 frees); K Healy, S Broderick, A Howard 1-0 each; S Lenihan 0-2 (1f).

Round 3 July 9	Kerry	3-11 - 2-14	Wicklow	Austin Stack Park, Tralee
	M Conway 0-6 (0-5 frees), J M Dooley 1-3, E Fitzgeerald 1-0, E Touhy 1-0, P Randles 0-2.	Report	W Gorman 2-1, D Hyland 0-4 (0-1 free), J O’Neill 0-4 (0-2 frees), J Murphy 0-2, J Bermingham 0-2, B Rickerby 0-1.

Round 4 July 2	Kerry	5-16 - 0-12	Mayo	Pearse Stadium, Galway
	M Conway (2-8, 5f), JM Dooley (3-3), S Brick (0-2), S Sheehan (0-2), P Randles (0-1).	Report	A Freeman (0-6f), G White (0-1), D McConn (0-1f), B Delaney (0-1), K Healy (0-1), S Broderick (0-1), R Campion (0-1).

Round 4 July 6	Carlow	0-17 - 1-12	Kildare	Dr. Cullen Park, Carlow
	P Coady (0-13, 11 frees, 2, 65's), M Brennan (0-1), R Dunbar (0-1), S McMahon (0-1), D Murphy (0-1),	Report	M Dowd (1-8, 1-5 frees), A (0-2), R Coyle (0-1), C Buggy (0-1).

Round 5 July 6	Kerry	3-15 - 2-8	Carlow	Austin Stack Park, Tralee
	M Conway 0-8 ( 0-5 frees), J M Dooley 1-2, D Young and E Tuohy 1-0 each, J Egan and P Lyons 0-2 each, T Flynn 0-1 free.	Report	P Coady 0-6 ( 0-5 frees), B Lawler 1-1, M Brennan 1-0 R Dunbar 0-1.

Round 5 July 16	Wicklow	3-16 - 3-12	Mayo	Pearse Park, Arklow

Relegation playoffs

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Semi-finals

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Final

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All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship - Christy Ring Cup Armagh Derry Donegal Down Kerry Kildare Mayo Meath Wicklow 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Liam McCarthy Cup (Tier 1) Christy Ring Cup (Tier 2) Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 3) Lory Meagher Cup (Tier 4)