Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cup Updates
13 June 2006Although there were two matches played in the Christy Ring Cup on the June Bank Holiday weekend, the competition really got into full swing last weekend, with four matches played. The shock result of the day was Down’s big win over Antrim at Ballycran.
Antrim had already hammered Down in the Ulster semi-final but Down wiped them out on Saturday by 16 points Indeed, they led at half-time by 14 points.
That result has already created an interesting sub-plot. Although Antrim are the raging hot favourites for the competition, they have to play a London team who have their sights set on doing well this summer. They began their campaign with an impressive six points win over Roscommon at the weekend.
London only lost to Antrim by five points in the Ulster semi-final and Antrim felt that getting through that difficult game was the making of them before their Ulster semi-final demolition of Down.
Although the Antrim-London game is fixed for Casement Park, Antrim are already under serious pressure in this competition, a fact that highlights how difficult and competitive life can be in the Christy Ring Cup.
Meanwhile, in Group B of the competition, Kildare continued their march towards the semi-finals when they recorded their second win with a 3-14 to 2-12 victory over Wicklow.
Kildare began their campaign with a deserved win against Kerry, who reached this year’s Division Two National League final. One more win will surely push Kildare into the semi-finals.
After drawing with Wicklow first time out, Carlow made a serious statement at the weekend when they hammered Mayo by 3-15 to 0-5. Carlow had a big performance from Alan Brennan, who finished as top scorer with 1-3.
It was a big setback for a Mayo outfit who had an outstanding National League campaign, almost reaching the Division Two final. Still, it was Mayo’s first time out in the competition and they have time to get their campaign back on track.
The competition hots up again this weekend when Antrim play Roscommon and London take on Meath.
Meanwhile, in the Nicky Rackard Cup, there were wins for Fermanagh, Louth, Derry, Armagh and Warwickshire, while Donegal and Sligo drew.
Indeed it was a historic victory for Warwickshire and their first in the Nicky Rackard Cup. It was no great surprise to them that they defeated Monaghan, however, as they only lost by a point to the same side in last year’s competition.
Another notable victory was Fermanagh’s win against Tyrone at Enniskillen. Fermanagh failed to win a game in last year’s competition while Tyrone went all the way to the semi-final and only narrowly lost to Louth.
Despite being five points behind at half-time, Fermanagh produced an excellent comeback to win by 4-15 to 1-16. Goals from Jason McManus, Dermot Curran (two) and Brendan McGarry were enough to see Fermanagh over the line.
The fact that it was such a high scoring and entertaining game highlights how sides are continually improving and progressing in the Nicky Rackard Cup.
Snippets
After Dinny Cahill’s long-haul managerial exploits with Antrim for four years, when he traveled from Cloughjordan in Tipperary to Antrim twice a week for training, Down manager Sean Farrell is continuing that long haul trend. Farrell travels from his native Cork to the Ards peninsula twice a week for training. John Crossey originally brought Farrell in as an advisor, with a view to him taking ball sessions over the summer. But when Crossey resigned in April, Farrell was thrust into the position.
After comfortably winning last year’s Nicky Rackard Cup, London have already highlighted their ambitions for this year’s Christy Ring Cup. Before last year’s Rackard final, they brought Ger Loughnane over for a training weekend. When the Clare players traveled to Bisham Abbey five weeks ago for a training weekend, London spotted another opportunity. On that Friday evening, Anthony Daly took a session with the London players and they feel it has been an enormous benefit to their outlook for this summer.
Although Longford were beaten at the weekend, Gareth Ghee was the team’s top scorer again with six points. Ghee proved himself to be an outstanding player during last year’s Nicky Rackard Cup when he finished the competition as the top scorer. Ghee hit 3-30 in five matches and he excelled with individual feats in two of those matches; he hit 1-9 against Armagh and 1-8 against Tyrone. Longford will need him to hit that type of form again this season for the team to make a push in this competition.
Although Mayo were heavily defeated by Carlow at the weekend, the dedication and commitment of dual-player Keith Higgins to the Mayo hurlers was highlighted once again. Higgins flew back from a training week camp in La Manga to play in the game. Higgins, who won a Railway Cup medal with Connacht a couple of years ago and who captained the Mayo U-21 footballers to an All-Ireland title in May is one of the best young hurlers in Connacht and is certainly one of the top dual players in the country.
This Weekend’s Fixtures
Christy Ring Cup (Saturday)
Roinn 2A - Round 2
Casement Park 2.00
Aontroim v Ros Comáin
Réiteoir: Jim O Rourke, Muineachán
Ruislip 5.00
Londain v An Mhí
Réiteoir: Ger Hoey, An Clár
An Dún Bye