# 2008–09 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship

The 2008–09 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship was the 39th since the establishment of the competition by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1970–71. The first matches of the season were played on 12 October 2008 and the championship ended on 17 March 2009. Portumna went into the 2008 championship as defending champions, having won their second All-Ireland title the previous year.
The championship culminated with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin. The match was contested by Portumna and De La Salle. It was their first meeting in the final. Portumna won the game by 2–24 to 1–8. It was their second All-Ireland title in succession and an unprecedented third in four years.

## Format

The 2008–09 club championship was played on a straight knock-out basis. Each of the sixteen participating counties enter their respective club champions. The format of the competition was as follows:
Sixteen county club champions participated in the 2008–09 championship. These counties were as follows:
* Leinster: Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford.
* Munster: Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford.
* Connacht: Galway.
* Ulster: Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down.
Provincial Championships
The Leinster, Munster and Ulster championships were played as usual on a straight knock-out basis. The three respective champions from these provinces advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals.
All-Ireland Series
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The Munster champions played the Ulster champions while the Leinster champions played the champions of Galway. The Galway club champions enter the competition at this stage due to the absence of a provincial club championship in Connacht.

## Participating clubs

| Team | Colours | County | Most recent success | Most recent success | Most recent success |
| Team | Colours | County | All-Ireland | Provincial | County |
| Adare | | Limerick | | | 2007 |
| Ballyboden St. Enda's | | Dublin | | | 2007 |
| Ballygalget | | Down | | 2005 | 2005 |
| Ballyhale Shamrocks | | Kilkenny | 2007 | 2007 | 2007 |
| Birr | | Offaly | 2003 | 2007 | 2007 |
| Clonlara | | Clare | | | 1919 |
| De La Salle | | Waterford | | | |
| Keady Lámh Dhearg | | Armagh | | | 2007 |
| Kevin Lynch's | | Derry | | | 2007 |
| Portumna | | Galway | 2008 | 2007 | 2007 |
| Ruairí Óg, Cushendall | | Antrim | | 2006 | 2006 |
| Raharney | | Westmeath | | | 2006 |
| Rathdowney | | Laois | | | 2006 |
| Sarsfield's | | Cork | | | 1957 |
| St. Martin's | | Wexford | | | 1999 |
| Toomevara | | Tipperary | | 2006 | 2006 |

## Fixtures
### All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship

| Portumna | De La Salle |
PORTUMNA: :
| GK | 1 | Ivan Canning |
| RCB | 2 | Martin Dolphin |
| FB | 3 | Eugene McEntee 60' |
| LCB | 4 | Ollie Canning (c) |
| RWB | 5 | Gareth Heagney 59' |
| CB | 6 | Míchéal Ryan |
| LWB | 7 | Aidan Donnelly 60' |
| M | 8 | Eoin Lynch |
| M | 9 | Leo Smith 59' |
| RWF | 10 | Niall Hayes |
| CF | 11 | Kevin Hayes |
| LWF | 12 | Andrew Smith |
| RCF | 13 | Damien Hayes |
| FF | 14 | Joe Canning |
| LCF | 15 | Ciarán Ryan 56' |
| Substitutes: ||||
| LCF | | Davy Canning 56' |
| RWB | | Michael Gill 59' |
| MD | | Peter Smith 59' |
| LCB | | John O'Flaherty 60' |
| LWB | | Pierce Treacy 60' |
DE LA SALLE: :
| GK | 1 | Stephen Brenner |
| RCB | 2 | Alan Kelly |
| FB | 3 | Ian Flynn |
| LCB | 4 | Michael Doherty |
| RWB | 5 | Darren Russell |
| CB | 6 | Kevin Moran |
| LWB | 7 | Stephen Daniels |
| M | 8 | Bryan Phelan |
| M | 9 | Conor Watt 57' |
| RWF | 10 | Paudie Nevin |
| CF | 11 | Derek McGrath 18' |
| LWF | 12 | Lee Hayes 11' |
| RCF | 13 | Dean Twomey 57' |
| FF | 14 | John Mullane (c) |
| LCF | 15 | David Greene |
| Substitutes: ||||
| RCF | | Brian Farrell 11' 30' |
| CF | | Thomas Kearney 18' |
| RCF | | James Quirke 30' |
| MD | | Alan O'Neill 57' |
| RCF | | Dermot Dooley 57' |
Match Rules
* 60 minutes
* Replay if scores level
* Maximum of 5 substitutions

## Championship statistics
### Scoring

* Widest winning margin: 26 points
** Portumna 2–24 : 1–8 De La Salle (All-Ireland final)
* Most goals in a match: 6
** Portumna 5–11 : 1–16 Ballyhale Shamrocks (All-Ireland semi-final)
* Most points in a match: 40
** De La Salle 1–21 : 1–19 Ruairí Óg, Cushendall (All-Ireland semi-final)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 5
** Portumna 5–11 : 1–16 Ballyhale Shamrocks (All-Ireland semi-final)
* Most points by one team in a match: 26
** Ballyhale Shamrocks 0–26 : 0–9 Raharney (Leinster semi-final)
** Sarsfield's 0–26 : 0–10 Clonlara (Munster quarter-final)

## Top scorers
### Season

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Henry Shefflin | Ballyhale Shamrocks | 0–35 | 35 | 4 | 8.75 |
| 2 | Simon Whelahan | Birr | 0–22 | 22 | 3 | 7.33 |
| 3 | Pat Ryan | Sarsfield's | 0–20 | 20 | 2 | 10.00 |
| 3 | Joe Canning | Portumna | 2–14 | 20 | 2 | 10.00 |
| 4 | Martin Óg Coulter | Ballygalget | 2–11 | 17 | 2 | 8.50 |
| 5 | John Mullane | De La Salle | 1–13 | 16 | 4 | 4.00 |
| 5 | Brian Phelan | De La Salle | 0–16 | 16 | 4 | 4.00 |
| 6 | Damien Hayes | Portumna | 4-03 | 15 | 2 | 7.50 |
| 6 | Shane McNaughton | Ruairí Óg | 3-06 | 15 | 3 | 5.00 |
| 7 | Steven Clarke | Ballygalget | 2-05 | 11 | 2 | 5.50 |

### Single game

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Pat Ryan | Sarsfield's | 0–14 | 14 | Clonlara |
| 2 | Joe Canning | Portumna | 2–05 | 11 | Ballyhale Shamrocks |
| 3 | Henry Shefflin | Ballyhale Shamrocks | 0–10 | 10 | Portumna |
| 3 | Henry Shefflin | Ballyhale Shamrocks | 0–10 | 10 | Raharney |
| 3 | Martin Óg Coulter | Ballygalget | 0–10 | 10 | Ruairí Óg, Cushendall |
| 4 | Steven Clarke | Ballygalget | 2–03 | 9 | Keady Lámh Dhearg |
| 4 | Joe Canning | Portumna | 0–09 | 9 | De La Salle |
| 4 | Simon Whelahan | Birr | 0–09 | 9 | St. Martin's |
| 5 | Damien Hayes | Portumna | 2–02 | 8 | De La Salle |
| 5 | Shane McNaughton | Ruairí Óg, Cushendall | 2–02 | 8 | Kevin Lynch's |
| 5 | Henry Shefflin | Ballyhale Shamrocks | 0–08 | 8 | Rathdowney |

## Referees

The following referees were used during the championship:
| Name | County | Games |
| James McGrath | Westmeath | 1 |
| Diarmuid Kirwan | Cork | 1 |
| Declan O'Driscoll | Limerick | 1 |
| Johnny Ryan | Tipperary | 3 |
| F. Smith | Meath | 1 |
| Éamonn Moris | Dublin | 2 |
| Dommo Connolly | Kilkenny | 1 |
| Dickie Murphy | Wexford | 1 |
| Barry Kelly | Westmeath | 1 |
| Martin Mulholland | Derry | 1 |
| Declan Magee | Down | 1 |
| John Devlin | Tyrone | 1 |

## Stadia

The following stadia were used during the championship:
| County | Stadium | Capacity |
| Dublin | Croke Park | 82,300 |
| Tipperary | Semple Stadium | 55,000 |
| Limerick | Gaelic Grounds | 50,000 |
| Cork | Páirc Uí Chaoimh | 43,500 |
| Antrim | Casement Park | 32,600 |
| Kilkenny | Nowlan Park | 30,000 |
| Offaly | O'Connor Park | 20,000 |
| Westmeath | Cusack Park | 15,000 |
| Dublin | Parnell Park | 13,500 |
| Preceded byChampionship 2007–08 | All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship 2008–09 | Succeeded byChampionship 2009–10 |