2006 Christy Ring Cup

2006 Christy Ring Cup

Dates	3 June 2006 - 6 August 2006
Teams	8
Champions	Antrim (1st title) Karl McKeegan (captain) Jim McKernan (manager)
Runners-up	Carlow Eoin Garvey (manager)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	24
Top scorer(s)	Paul Braniff (6-26)
← 2005 (Previous) (Next) 2007 →

The 2006 Christy Ring Cup was the second staging of the Christy Ring Cup, the Gaelic Athletic Association's inter-county hurling tournament for second tier teams. The cup began on 3 June 2006 and ended on 6 August 2006.

Westmeath were the defending champions, however, they availed of their automatic right of promotion to the All-Ireland Championship. Antrim and London contested the cup for the first time.

On 6 August 2006, Antrim won the Christy Ring Cup following a 5-13 to 1-7 defeat of Carlow in the final. This was their first Christy Ring Cup title.

Down's Paul Braniff was the championship's top scorer with 6-26.

Format

Ten counties contested the 2006 competition for the Christy Ring Cup — the prize for the winners of Tier Two of the Guinness All-Ireland Hurling Championship. The inaugural competition involved the current middle rank of hurling counties:

• Leinster: Carlow, Kildare, Meath, and Wicklow
• Ulster: Antrim and Down
• Connacht: Roscommon and Mayo
• Munster: Kerry
• England: London

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 will be promotion to Tier One of the Hurling Championship to contest the Liam MacCarthy Cup the following year.

The last team in each group will be involved in a relegation play-off with the eventual loser being relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup.

Group A

Table

Table	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts	Status
Down	4	4	0	0	8-76	2-43	51	8	Advanced to the Knockout Stages
Antrim	4	3	0	1	15-70	2-48	61	6
London	4	2	0	2	7-45	4-59	-5	4	Remained in the Christy Ring Cup for 2007
Meath	4	1	0	3	2-65	10-50	-9	2
Roscommon	4	0	0	4	2-35	16-91	-98	0	Contested the relegation match

Results

Roscommon v London

10 June 2006 Round 1	Roscommon	0-10 - 2-10	London	Athleague Sportsfield
	R Mulry 0-4, B Kelly 0-3, G Fallon 0-1, D Loughnane 0-1, A Cunniffe 0-1.		S Malone 0-4, S Quinn 1-0, P Fagan 1-0, G Smith 0-1, M Gordon 0-1, F McMahon 0-1, B Foley 0-1, K McMullen 0-1, T Simms 0-1.	Referee: T McMahon (Fermanagh)

Down v Antrim

10 June 2006 Round 1	Down	1-23 - 1-7	Antrim	McKenna Park
	P Braniff 0-8, S Clarke 0-4, O Clarke 1-0, B McGourty 0-3, M Coulter 0-3, D Flynn 0-2, E Trainor 0-1.		Brian McFall 0-4, K Kelly 1-0, John McIntosh 0-2, J Scullion 0-1.	Referee: G Devlin (Armagh)

Antrim v Roscommon

18 June 2006 Round 2	Antrim	9-39 - 0-5	Roscommon	Casement Park
	P Richmond (3-4), J McIntosh (2-8), L Watson (2-3), J Scullion (1-5), M Dallas (0-7), B McFall (1-3), B Delargy (0-3), M Molloy (0-3), D McKillop (0-2), M Scullion (0-1).		B Kelly (0-3), G Fallon (0-1), R Kennedy (0-1).

London v Meath

18 June 2006 Round 2	London	3-15 - 0-20	Meath	Emerald GAA Grounds
	S Malone (2-2), K McMullan (1-1), F McMahon (0-3), M O’Meara (0-3), D Smith (0-2), P Fagan (0-2), B Foley (0-1), S Quinn (0-1).		T Reilly (0-11), K Dowd (0-3), J Keena (0-2), G O’Neil (0-2), S Clynch (0-1), K Fagan (0-1).

Down v Roscommon

24 June 2006 Round 3	Down	3-21 - 0-12	Roscommon
	B Innes 1-3, S Clarke 1-4, E Clarke 1-2, P Braniff 0-5, E Trainor 0-3, S Wilson 0-2 B McGourty 0-1.		R Mulry 0-7, B Kelly 0-2, A Cunniffe, G Fallon, Conniughton 0-1 each.

Antrim v Meath

24 June 2006 Round 3	Antrim	3-12 - 0-13	Meath
	L Watson 2-4, 2-2 frees; J McIntosh 0-4; K Kelly 1-1; M Dallas 0-2; P McGill 0-1.		T Riley 0-6 (2f '65), S Clynch, J Keena 0-2 each, M Cole, P Coone, P Donnelly 0-1 each.

Down v Meath

8 July 2006 Round 4	Down	2-15 - 0-11	Meath	McKenna Park
	Paul Braniff 2-2, S Clarke 0-5, B McGourty 0-4, E Trainor 0-2, Gabriel Clarke 0-1, S Wilson 0-1.		N Hackett 0-4, M Cole 0-2, K Fegan 0-2, J Keenan 0-1, E Keogh 0-1, S Heavey 0-1.	Referee: T Mahon (Fermanagh)

Antrim v London

8 July 2006 Round 4	Antrim	2-12 - 1-7	London	Casement Park
	Paddy Richmond 1-2, Johnny McIntosh 1-2, Brian McFall 0-5, M Scullion 0-1, K Kelly 0-1, J Scullion 0-1.		B Foley 1-1, J Ryan 0-2, D Smith 0-2, E Phelan 0-1, P Fagan 0-1.	Referee: G McGrath (Westmeath)

London v Down

15 July 2006 Round 5	London	1-13 - 2-17	Down	Emerald GAA Grounds
	E Conway 0-4, J Ryan 1-0, P Fagan 0-2, S Malone 0-2, F McMahon 0-2, K McMullan 0-1, M O’Meara 0-1, T Simms 0-1.		Paul Braniff 0-5, E Trainor 0-5, S Clarke 1-1, S Murray 0-2, S Wilson 0-1, B McGourty 0-1, G Adair 0-1, M Braniff 0-1.	Referee: C McAllister (Cork)

Meath v Roscommon

15 July 2006 Round 5	Meath	2-21 - 2-8	Roscommon	Páirc Tailteann
	P Coone 1-5, K Fagan 1-3, T Reilly 0-5, S Clynch 0-3, J Keenan 0-2, J Watters 0-2, N Hackett 0-1.		M Connaughton 0-5, A Flaherty 1-0, T Reddington 1-0, G Waldron 0-1, A Cunniffe 0-1, M Kelly 0-1.

Group B

Table

Table	P	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	Pts	Status
Kildare	4	4	0	0	9-62	7-43	25	8	Advanced to the Knockout Stages
Carlow	4	2	1	1	7-55	8-37	15	5
Mayo	4	2	0	2	4-34	7-48	-23	4	Remained in the Christy Ring Cup for 2007
Wicklow	4	1	1	2	6-45	9-41	-5	3
Kerry	4	0	0	4	7-34	2-61	-12	0	Contested the relegation match

Results

Wicklow v Carlow

3 June 2006 Round 1	Wicklow	2-8 - 1-11	Carlow	Pearse Park
	J Keogh 1-4, D Moran 1-0, D Hyland 0-1, G Doran 0-1, T McGrath 0-1, A O’Brien 0-1.		D Roberts 1-1, D Runbar 0-4, P Cody 0-2, B Lawler 0-1, C Hughes 0-1, P Kehoe 0-1, B Cox 0-1.

Kerry v Kildare

3 June 2006 Round 1	Kerry	2-12 - 1-16	Kildare	Austin Stack Park
	M Boyle 2-0, M Conway 0-6, J Egan 0-5, J M Dooley 0-1.		B Whyte 0-9, D Harney 1-2, P Reidy 0-2, C Divilly 0-1, C Buggy 0-1, O Lynch 0-1.

Kildare v Wicklow

10 June 2006 Round 2	Kildare	3-14 - 2-11	Wicklow	St. Conleth's Park
	B White 0-7, A McAndrew 1-3, D Harney 1-0, B Byrne 1-0, C Divilly 0-1, P Reidy 0-1, M Moloney 0-1.		A O'Brien 1-2, L Glynn 1-1, J Keogh 0-3, J Murphy 0-2, D Hyland 0-1, G Doran 0-1, E Glynn 0-1.	Referee: D Magee (Down)

Carlow v Mayo

10 June 2006 Round 2	Carlow	3-15 - 0-5	Mayo	Dr. Cullen Park
	B Lawlor 1-3, D Shaw 1-0, A Brennan 1-0, P Coady 0-3, S McMahon 0-2, D Roberts 0-2, P Kehoe 0-1, R Foley 0-1, E Coady 0-1, S Kavanagh 0-1.		K Higgens 0-2, S Broderick 0-1, S Coyne 0-1, P Higgins 0-1.	Referee: C McAllister (Cork)

Mayo v Kildare

24 June 2006 Round 3	Mayo	1-12 - 2-19	Kildare	McHale Park
	P Higgins 1-1, S Broderick 0-6, S Coyle, D McDonald, P McConn, S Hunt, P Broderick 0-1 each.	Report	B White 1-7, A McAndrew 1-1, M Moloney 0-3, O Lynch 0-2, M Dowd 0-2, E Hannon, P Reidy, C Divill, B Byrne, D Harley 0-1 each.

Kerry v Wicklow

24 June 2006 Round 3	Kerry	2-7 - 0-15	Wicklow	Austin Stack Park
	M Conway 1-4, M Boyle 1-0, A Keane, J Dooley, M Hanafin 0-1 each.	Report	J Keogh 0-6, L Glynn 0-2, A O'Brien 0-2, J O'Neill 0-2, D Moran, E Glynn, E Dunne 0-1 each.

Kerry v Mayo

8 July 2006 Round 4	Kerry	0-4 - 0-8	Mayo	Austin Stack Park
	J Egan 0-2 (2f), B O'Donovan and M Boyle 0-1 each		K Higgins 0-4 (3f), S Barrett 0-2 (2f), P Higgins and D McDonnell 0-1 each.

Kildare v Carlow

8 July 2006 Round 4	Kildare	3-13 - 2-7	Carlow	St. Conleth's Park
	B White 0-7 5f, C Divilly 2-0, B Byrne 1-0, DHarney 0-3, O Lynch 0-2, M O'Sowd 0-1.		P Coady 1-1 both f, A Brennan 1-0, D Roberts 1f and P Keogh 0-2 each, D Murphy and B Lawler 0-1 each.

Carlow v Kerry

15 July 2006 Round 5	Carlow	1-22 - 3-11	Kerry	Dr. Cullen Park
	P Coady 0-11, P Keohoe 1-4, D Murphy 0-3, B Lawler 0-2, R Foley 0-1, M Keating 0-1.		I McCarthy 1-4, M Conway 1-2, A Keane 1-0, S Mounsell 0-2, N Whelan 0-1, G O'Grady 0-1, A Boyle 0-1.	Referee: C Groome (Offaly)

Mayo v Wicklow

15 July 2006 Round 5	Mayo	3-9 - 2-10	Wicklow	James Stephens Park
	P Broderick 2-2, S Barrett 1-0, S Broderick 0-2, D McDonald 0-2, D McConn 0-1, K Healey 0-1, A Freeman 0-1.		A Brennan 1-3, G Doran 1-0, E Flynn 0-3, J Murphy 0-2, J Bermingham 0-1, D O'Haolain 0-1.

Relegation Final

Relegation final

Kerry v Roscommon

22 July 2006 Relegation final	Kerry	2-19 - 1-7	Roscommon	Cusack Park
	M Conway 2-6, B Donovan 0-4, M Boyle 0-4, I McCarthy 0-2, M Quilter 0-1, A Keane 0-1, P Lyons 0-1.		M Kelly 1-1, B Hanley 0-2, R Mulry 0-2, M Connaughton 0-2.

Knockout Stages

Semi-finals

Kildare v Antrim

23 July 2005 Semi-final	Kildare	0-6 - 2-21	Antrim	Cusack Park
	B White (0-3, two frees, '65), PB Byrne, D Harney, O Lynch (0-1 each).	Report	L Watson (0-12, seven frees, four '65s), P Richmond (1-2), B McFall (1-1), M Scullion, K Kelly (0-2 each), C Cunning, J McIntosh (0-1 each).

Down v Carlow

23 July 2005 Semi-final	Down	5-8 - 2-19	Carlow	Cusack Park
	P Braniff (4-6, three frees), E Clarke (1-1), S Wilson (0-1, free)	Report	P Coady (0-6, three frees, '65), D Murphy (2-0), B Lawler (0-5), R Foley (0-3), F Foley, C Hughes, A Brennan, P Kehoe, K English (0-1 each).

Final

Antrim v Carlow

6 August 2005 Final	Antrim	5-13 - 1-7	Carlow	Croke Park
	J McIntosh (2-4, four frees), B McFall (1-2), K Kelly (1-1), J Scullion (1-0), P Richmond (0-2), M Molloy (0-2, one free, one 65), P McGill (0-1), B Delargy (0-1).	Report	F Foley (1-0, free), P Coady (0-3, frees), D Roberts (0-1), R Foley (0-2), S McMahon (0-1).	Referee: J McGrath (Westmeath)

Top scorers

• Paul Branniff (Down) 6-26 (44)
• Johnny McIntosh (Antrim) 5-21 (36)
• Liam Watson (Antrim) 4-19 (31)
• Mikey Conway (Kerry) 4-18 (30)
• Pat Coady (Carlow) 1-26 (29)
• Paddy Richmond (Antrim) 5-10 (25)
• Brian McFall (Antrim) 3-15 (24)