# 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup

The 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup was the 4th annual third tier hurling competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. Sligo beat Louth in the final.

## Team changes
### To Championship

Entered Championship
* Fingal
* South Down

### From Championship

Promoted to the Christy Ring Cup
* Armagh
* Roscommon

## Format

Ten county teams participated in the 2008 Nicky Rackard Cup, with Fingal (north Dublin) and "South Down" (Down excluding the Ards Peninsula) bringing the total to twelve.
* Group 3A: Fingal, Longford, Louth
* Group 3B: Fermanagh, Leitrim, South Down
* Group 3C: Donegal, Monaghan, Tyrone
* Group 3D: Cavan, Sligo, Warwickshire
Each team in the group played each other once in the first phase. The top two teams in each group advanced to the quarter-finals.

## Group A

| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Fingal | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3-29 | 4-20 | +6 | 2 | Advance to Knockout Stage |
| 2 | Louth | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-26 | 0-29 | 0 | 2 | Advance to Knockout Stage |
| 3 | Longford | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3-22 | 3-28 | -6 | 2 | |
| Date | Team | Score | Team | Score |
| 28 June | Louth | 1-13 | Fingal | 0-14 |
| 5 July | Fingal | 3-15 | Longford | 3-07 |
| 12 July | Longford | 0-15 | Louth | 0-13 |

## Group B

| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | South Down | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7-31 | 4-29 | +11 | 4 | Advance to Knockout Stage |
| 2 | Leitrim | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4-29 | 4-27 | +2 | 2 | Advance to Knockout Stage |
| 3 | Fermanagh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3-24 | 6-28 | -13 | 0 | |
| Date | Team | Score | Team | Score |
| 28 June | South Down | 3-16 | Leitrim | 2-16 |
| 5 July | Leitrim | 2-13 | Fermanagh | 1-11 |
| 12 July | Fermanagh | 2-13 | South Down | 4-15 |

## Group 3C

| Date | Team | Score | Team | Score |
| 28 June | Donegal | 2-11 | Tyrone | 2-12 |
| 5 July | Tyrone | 3-08 | Monaghan | 3-13 |
| 12 July | Monaghan | 0-19 | Donegal | 1-15 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | +/- |
| Monaghan | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3-32 | 4-23 | 4 | +6 |
| Tyrone | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5-20 | 5-24 | 2 | -4 |
| Donegal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3-26 | 2-31 | 0 | -2 |

## Group 3D

| Date | Team | Score | Team | Score |
| 28 June | Sligo | 3-15 | Cavan | 1-12 |
| 5 July | Cavan | 0-16 | Warwickshire | 0-12 |
| 12 July | Warwickshire | 2-10 | Sligo | 1-15 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | +/- |
| Sligo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4-30 | 3-17 | 4 | +16 |
| Cavan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1-23 | 3-27 | 2 | -10 |
| Warwickshire | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2-22 | 1-31 | 0 | -6 |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Semi-Finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1C | Monaghan | 1-11 | | | | | | |
| 2D | Cavan | 0-09 | | | | | | |
| 2D | Cavan | 0-09 | 1C | Monaghan | 1-13 | | | |
| | | | 2A | Louth | 0-18 | | | |
| 1B | South Down | 2-16 | 2A | Louth | 0-18 | | | |
| 2A | Louth | 4-13 | | | | | | |
| 2A | Louth | 4-13 | | | | 2A | Louth | 3-10 |
| | | | | | | 1D | Sligo | 3-19 |
| 1D | Sligo | 2-15 | | | | | | | 1D | Sligo | 3-19 |
| 2C | Tyrone | 2-11 | | | | | | |
| 2C | Tyrone | 2-11 | 1D | Sligo | 1-16 | | | |
| | | | 1A | Fingal | 0-11 | | | |
| 1A | Fingal | 1-19 | 1A | Fingal | 0-11 | | | |
| 2B | Leitrim | 0-12 | | | | | | |

### Final

* 3 August 2008 12pm
| Sligo | 3-19 (28) – (19) 3-10 | Louth |
| (HT: 2-12 – 2-05) |||
| Gls: Bannerton, Raymond, Seevers (1-0 each) Pts: Raymond (0-8), Seevers (0-4, 3f), D. Burke (0-2), Bannerton, M. Burke, Cadden, Gilmartin, Shelly (0-1 each) | | Gls: Byrne, Conroy, Murphy (1-0 each) Pts: Murphy (0-6, 3f, 2'65), D. Callan (0-2, 1f), A. Carter (1f), G. Smyth (0-1) |
* Referee: S. Whelan (Wexford)
| GK | 1 | Ciarán Brennan (Coolera/Strandhill) |
| RCB | 2 | Fiachra Coyne (Calry/St. Joseph's) |
| FB | 3 | Walter Gill (Turloughmore, Galway) |
| LCB | 4 | Ronan Cox (Calry/St. Joseph's) |
| RHB | 5 | Dermot Clarke (Mullagh, Galway) |
| CHB | 6 | Mark Burke (Tubbercurry) |
| LHB | 7 | Liam Reidy (Calry/St. Joseph's) |
| MF | 8 | John Mullins (Mullagh, Galway) |
| MF | 9 | David Colleary (Calry/St. Joseph's) |
| RHF | 10 | Michael Gilmartin (Calry/St. Joseph's) |
| CHF | 11 | Damien Burke (Calry/St. Joseph's) (c) |
| LHF | 12 | Paul Seevers (Tubbercurry) |
| RCF | 13 | Joe Bannerton (Naomh Eoin) |
| FF | 14 | Keith Raymond (Calry/St. Joseph's) |
| LCF | 15 | Larry Cadden (Coolera/Strandhill) |
| Substitutes: ||
| | 16 | Colin Herity (Dunnamaggin, Kilkenny) for Cadden |
| | 17 | Mick Shelly (Calry/St. Joseph's) for Bannerton |
| | 18 | Conor O'Mahony (Coolera/Strandhill) for Gilmartin |
| Manager: ||
| Michael Galvin ||
| GK | 1 | Stephen Smyth (Pearse Óg) |
| RCB | 2 | Conor Kerrigan (Knockbridge) |
| FB | 3 | Tony Teefy (Knockbridge) |
| LCB | 4 | Brian Hassett (Pearse Óg) |
| RHB | 5 | Donnach Callan (Pearse Óg) |
| CHB | 6 | Aidan Carter (Wolfe Tones) |
| LHB | 7 | Johnny Carter (Wolfe Tones) |
| MF | 8 | Trevor Hilliard (Knockbridge) |
| MF | 9 | Shane Kerrigan (Knockbridge) |
| RHF | 10 | Shane Fennell (Knockbridge) |
| CHF | 11 | Ronan Byrne (Knockbridge) |
| LHF | 12 | Gerard Smyth (Pearse Óg) |
| RCF | 13 | Seán Conroy (Pearse Óg) |
| FF | 14 | Shane Callan (Pearse Óg) |
| LCF | 15 | Diarmuid Murphy (Naomh Moninne) |
| Substitutes: ||
| | 16 | Mark Kirwan (Wolfe Tones) for Teefy |
| | 17 | David Dunne (Knockbridge) (c) for G. Smyth |
| | 18 | Eddie McCarthy (Pearse Óg) for S. Kerrigan |
| | 19 | Collins Connolly (Dicksboro, Kilkenny) for Fennell |
| | 20 | Paul Dunne (Knockbridge) for Conroy |
| Manager: ||
| Pat Clancy ||

### Scores

| Match | Date | Venue | Team | Score | Team | Score |
| Quarter-final | 19 July | Parnell Park | Fingal | 1-19 | Leitrim | 0-12 |
| Quarter-final | 19 July | Páirc Esler | South Down | 2-16 | Louth | 4-13 |
| Quarter-final | 19 July | St Tiernach's Park | Monaghan | 1-11 | Cavan | 0-09 |
| Quarter-final | 19 July | Markievicz Park | Sligo | 2-15 | Tyrone | 2-11 |
| semi-final | 26 July | Monaghan | Monaghan | 1-13 | Louth | 0-18 |
| semi-final | 26 July | Markievicz Park | Sligo | 1-16 | Fingal | 0-11 |
| Final | 3 August | Croke Park | Louth | 3-10 | Sligo | 3-19 |

## Miscellaneous
### 2008 season facts

* Sligo, the eventual winners of the competition finished the preceding league tournament without a win, resulting in relegation to division 4 next year. Donegal, who won every game of the league, were eliminated from the Championship at the first (group stage) hurdle.
* Sligo had the opportunity of defending their crown in 2009 after losing 1–17 to 1–13 to Roscommon in the championship promotion/relegation play-off. However a change in the Hurling competition structures with the introduction of a 4th tier championship Lory Meagher Cup meant that sligo and Roscommon both played in the 2009 Nicky Rackard Cup.