2017 Nicky Rackard Cup

2017 Nicky Rackard Cup

Dates	22 April to 10 June 2017
Teams	7 (normally 8)
Champions	Derry (2nd title) Oisin McCloskey (captain)
Runners-up	Armagh
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	37 (3.7 per match)
Points scored	318 (31.8 per match)
Top scorer(s)	David Carvill (2-34)
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The 2017 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 13th staging of the Nicky Rackard Cup hurling championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. It is the third tier of senior inter-county championship hurling.

Mayo, the 2016 champions, were promoted to the 2017 Christy Ring Cup after defeating Derry in the promotion/relegation playoff 1–21 to 1–14.

Format

The 2017 Nicky Rackard Cup is played in a double-elimination format. For clarity, the match-ups are explained in each round below.

The seven teams competing in 2017 were Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Longford, Louth, Monaghan, and Tyrone. Fingal were scheduled to compete but withdrew for 2017.

Round 1

Six of the seven teams play in Round 1. The seventh team receives a bye.

Louth v Derry

22 April 2017	Louth	1-12 - 2-17	Derry	St. Brigid's Park, Dowdallshill
	D Kettle 1-1, P Lynch 0-4 (3fs), D Murphy 0-3, L Dwan 0-2, G Smyth 0-1, M Ryan 0-1.	Report	R Convery 0-11 (10fs), M McGrath 1-0, A Grant 1-0, K Hinphey 0-2, C Steele 0-1, D Cartin 0-1, P Cleary 0-1, L Óg Hinphey 0-1.	Referee: T Carroll (Offaly)

Donegal v Armagh

22 April 2017	Donegal	1-19 - 0-13	Armagh	O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny
	D Flynn 1-5, L Henderson 0-5 (4f, 1 '45), D Coulter 0-3, J Boyle, G Gilmore 0-2 each, B Lafferty, D Cullen 0-1 each	Report	D Carvill 0-6f, C Carvill, D McKenna 0-2 each, C Corvan, C Devlin, C Gorman 0-1 each

Monaghan v Tyrone

22 April 2017	Monaghan	0-16 - 2-11	Tyrone	St. Mary's Park, Castleblayney
	D Meegan (0-10, 8f), F Rafter (0-2), B McGuigan (0-1), C Boyle (0-1), P Treanor (0-1), C Meegan (0-1).	Report	D Casey (1-2, 0-1), J Kelly (0-4),S Óg Grogan (1-0), L Devlin (0-2), P Daly (0-1), C Grogan (0-1), R McKernan (0-1).	Referee: P Murphy (Carlow)

Longford v

Longford

BYE

Round 2

Round 2A

Contested by the three winners of Round 1 and the team that received a bye.

Tyrone v Donegal

29 April 2017	Tyrone	4-19 - 0-16	Donegal	Páirc Naomh Colmcille, Carrickmore
3.00 PM	D Casey (1-10, 6f), C Grogan (2-1), S Óg Grogan (1-1), B McGurk (0-4), J Kelly (0-1); S Donnelly (0-1), T Morgan (0-1).	Report	L Henderson (0-6, 1 ’65, 5f); G Gilmore (0-3); D Flynn (0-3), J Boyle (0-2), P Doherty (0-1); S McVeigh (0-1).	Referee: J Murphy (Limerick)

Derry v Longford

29 April 2017	Derry	8-21 - 1-14	Longford	Owenbeg Centre, Dungiven
	B Rogers (3-2), A Grant (2-5, one goal from penalty, four points from frees), B Cassidy (2-4), G Bradley (1-2), A Kelly (0-3), K Hinphey (0-1), D Cartin (0-1), P Cleary (0-1), E McGuckin (0-1), C McKaigue (0-1).	Report	P Walsh (0-8, seven frees), E Kiernan (1-0), R Murray (0-2), S Hannon (0-2), C Mullane (0-1), J Mulhern (0-1).

Round 2B

One match contested by two of the three losers of Round 1. The other losing team from Round 1 receives a bye.

Armagh v Louth

29 April 2017	Armagh	0-23 - 2-09	Louth	Athletic Grounds, Armagh
	D Carvill 0-11, Conor Corvan 0-5, J Corvan 0-2, C Corvan 0-2, N Curry 0-1, D Magee 0-1, D McKenna 0-1.		D Murphy 0-4, G Kerrigan 1-0, M Ryan 1-0, R Maher 0-2, P McCormack 0-1, D Kettle 0-1, D Ryan 0-1.

Monaghan v

Monaghan

BYE

Quarter-finals

The two losers of round 2A played the winner of round 2B and Monaghan, who had received a bye from that round. These two matches are referred to as quarter-finals.

Armagh v Longford

6 May 2017	Armagh	4-20 - 0-12	Longford	St. Oliver Plunkett Park, Crossmaglen
3.00 PM	C Corvan 1-7 (4f), D Carvill 1-6 (5f), F Bradley 1-1, R Gaffney 1-0, N Curry 0-2; C Carvill, D McKenna, O Curry, C Gorman 0-1 each.	Report	P Walsh 0-7 (6f, 1 sl), R Murray 0-2, S O'Brien 0-2; S Hannon 0-1.	Referee: J Connors (Donegal)

Monaghan v Donegal

6 May 2017	Monaghan	1-16 - 1-12	Donegal	Grattan Park, Inniskeen
3.00 PM	F Rafter 0-9 (4f), T Campbell 1-1, B McGuigan 0-3, C Boyle and M Treanor 0-1 each.	Report	D Flynn 1-3, L Henderson 0-5 (2f), D Coulter 0-3, J Boyle 0-1.

Semi-finals

The winners of round 2A play the winners of the two quarter-finals.

Tyrone v Armagh

20 May 2017	Tyrone	1-14 - 2-25	Armagh	Páirc Naomh Colmcille, Carrickmore
15:00	B McGurk 1-1, D Casey 0-11 (8f, 1 ’65), C Grogan, R McKernan 0-1 each.	Report	D Carvill 1-11 (0-6f), N Curry 1-4 (1-0 pen, 0-2f), R Gaffney, C Corvan (1f) 0-3 each, F Bradley, D McKenna, D Magee, D Gaffney 0-1 each.

Monaghan v Derry

20 May 2017	Monaghan	1-12 - 6-17	Derry	Grattan Park, Inniskeen
17:00	D Meegan 0-6 (5f), S Lambe 0-4 (1f), T Campbell 1-0, M Treanor and P Treanor 0-1 each.	Report	B Rodgers 3-1, A Grant 1-4, R Convery 1-3, B Cassidy 1-2, M McGrath 0-4, D Cartin and A Kelly 0-2 each.

Final

The winners of the Nicky Rackard Cup (tier 3) are automatically promoted to next year's Christy Ring Cup (tier 2).

Armagh v Derry

10 June 2017	Armagh	2-15 - 3-23	Derry	Croke Park, Dublin
15.00	A Grant 1-5 (0-4f), B Cassidy 1-4, G Bradley 1-3, C McKaigue, B Rogers, R Convery (1f, 1 ’65) 0-3 each, C Doherty, K Hinphey 0-1	Report	R Gaffney 2-0, D Carvill 0-7 (6f), C Carvill 0-3, E McGuinness 0-2, C Corvan, D Gaffney, N Curry 0-1	Referee: S Hynes (Galway)

Bracket

	Round 1 Round 2B					Round 2A Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	Louth		1-12
	Derry		2-17			Derry		8-21
	Longford					Longford		1-14
	(Bye)										Derry		6-17
											Monaghan		1-12
						Donegal		1-12
	Monaghan					Monaghan		1-16
	(Bye)															Derry		3-23
	Armagh		0-23													Armagh		2-15
	Louth		2-09			Armagh		4-20
						Longford		1-12
											Armagh		2-25			Relegation Playoff
	Monaghan		0-16								Tyrone		1-14
	Tyrone		2-11			Tyrone		4-19								Louth
	Donegal		1-19			Donegal		0-16								(Cancelled)
	Armagh		0-13

Relegation play-off (cancelled)

Normally contested by the two losers from round 2B as both these teams lost their first two matches. In 2017, no team was relegated as Fingal withdrew, thereby creating a vacant place in the normal eight-team Nicky Rackard Cup which was taken up by Warwickshire, the winners of the 2017 Lory Meagher Cup.

Scoring statistics

Top scorers overall

Rank	Player	Team	Tally	Total
1	David Carvill	Armagh	2-34	40
2	Damian Casey	Tyrone	2-23	29
3	Alan Grant	Derry	4-09	21
	Brendan Rogers	Derry	6-03	21
5	Davin Flynn	Donegal	2-11	17
	Ruairí Convery	Derry	1-14	17
7	Conor Corvan	Armagh	1-13	16
	Lee Henderson	Donegal	0-16	16
	Donal Meegan	Monaghan	0-16	16
10	Brian Cassidy	Derry	3-06	15
	Patrick Walsh	Longford	0-15	15

Top scorers in a single game

Rank	Player	Team	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	David Carvill	Armagh	1-11	14	Tyrone
2	Damian Casey	Tyrone	1-10	13	Donegal
3	Brendan Rogers	Derry	3-02	11	Longford
	Alan Grant	Derry	2-05	11	Longford
	Damian Casey	Tyrone	0-11	11	Armagh
	Ruairí Convery	Derry	0-11	11	Louth
	David Carvill	Armagh	0-11	11	Louth
8	Brendan Rogers	Derry	3-01	10	Monaghan
	Brian Cassidy	Derry	2-04	10	Longford
	Conor Corvan	Armagh	1-07	10	Longford
	Donal Meegan	Monaghan	0-10	10	Tyrone