# 2005 Nicky Rackard Cup

The 2005 Nicky Rackard Cup began on Saturday, 18 June 2005. 2005 was the first time the Nicky Rackard Cup was introduced into the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship. It was devised by the Hurling Development Committee to encourage some of the so-called "weaker" hurling counties and to give them the chance of playing more games. It is in effect a "Division 3" for hurling teams in Ireland. The final was played on Sunday, 21 August when London beat Louth in the final at Croke Park, Dublin.

## Format

Twelve teams participated in the "Nicky Rackard Cup 2005". The teams were divided into three groups of four based on geographical criteria. These groups were:
* Group 3A: Sligo, Tyrone, Donegal and Fermanagh
* Group 3B: Louth, Cavan, Armagh and Leitrim
* Group 3C: London, Warwickshire, Longford and Monaghan

## Team changes
### To Championship

Transferred from the All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship and the All-Ireland Junior Hurling Championship
* Armagh
* Cavan
* Donegal
* Fermanagh (Ulster JHC)
* Leitrim
* London (Ulster SHC)
* Longford (Leinster JHC)
* Louth (Leinster JHC)
* Monaghan
* Sligo (Connacht JHC)
* Tyrone
* Warwickshire

## Teams
### General Information

| County | Last Provincial Title | Last All-Ireland Title | Position in 2004 Championship | Appearance |
| Armagh | — | — | | 1st |
| Cavan | — | — | | 1st |
| Donegal | 1932 | — | | 1st |
| Fermanagh | — | — | Runners-up (Ulster Junior Hurling Championship) | 1st |
| Leitrim | — | — | | 1st |
| London | — | 1901 | Quarter-finals (Ulster Senior Hurling Championship) | 1st |
| Longford | — | — | Runners-up (Leinster Junior Hurling Championship) | 1st |
| Louth | — | — | Semi-finals (Leinster Junior Hurling Championship) | 1st |
| Monaghan | 1915 | — | | 1st |
| Sligo | — | — | Runners-up (Connacht Junior Hurling Championship) | 1st |
| Tyrone | — | — | | 1st |
| Warwickshire | — | — | | 1st |

## Group stage
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Donegal | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14-43 | 5-25 | 45 | 6 | Advance to Semi-Finals |
| 2 | Tyrone | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8-44 | 10-30 | 8 | 4 | Advance to Quarter-Finals |
| 3 | Sligo | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10-27 | 10-44 | -17 | 2 | |
| 4 | Fermanagh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5-30 | 12-45 | -36 | 0 | |
| Date | Team 1 | Score | Score | Team 2 | Venue |
| Round 1 ||||||
| June 18 | Tyrone | 3-17 | 3-7 | Fermanagh | Carrickmore |
| June 18 | Sligo | 3-6 | 5-13 | Donegal | Markievicz Park |
| Round 2 ||||||
| June 25 | Donegal | 3-12 | 1-11 | Tyrone | O' Donnell Park |
| June 25 | Fermanagh | 1-15 | 3-10 | Sligo | Brewster Park |
| Round 3 ||||||
| July 9 | Tyrone | 4-16 | 4-11 | Sligo | Carrickmore |
| July 9 | Donegal | 6-18 | 1-8 | Fermanagh | O' Donnell Park |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Louth | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9-51 | 4-28 | 38 | 6 | Advance to Semi-Finals |
| 2 | Armagh | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 12-42 | 6-26 | 34 | 4 | Advance to Quarter-Finals |
| 3 | Cavan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3-13 | 5-37 | -30 | 0 | |
| 4 | Leitrim | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3-21 | 12-36 | -42 | 0 | |
| Date | Team 1 | Score | Score | Team 2 | Venue |
| Round 1 ||||||
| June 18 | Armagh | 1-16 | 1-9 | Cavan | Crossmaglen |
| June 18 | Louth | 3-19 | 0-15 | Leitrim | Drogheda |
| Round 2 ||||||
| June 25 | Cavan | 2-4 | 4-21 | Louth | St. Tiernach's Park |
| June 25 | Leitrim | 3-6 | 9-17 | Armagh | |
| Round 3 ||||||
| July 9 | Armagh | 2-9 | 2-11 | Louth | Keady |
| July 9 | Leitrim | Cancelled | Cancelled | Cavan | - |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | London | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2-64 | 5-29 | 26 | 6 | Advance to Semi-Finals |
| 2 | Longford | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6-38 | 4-36 | 8 | 4 | Advance to Quarter-Finals |
| 3 | Monaghan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4-36 | 5-42 | -9 | 2 | |
| 4 | Warwickshire | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4-24 | 2-55 | -25 | 0 | |
| Date | Winner | Score | Score | Runner-up | Venue |
| Round 1 ||||||
| June 18 | Longford | 2-12 | 0-21 | London | Michael Fay Park |
| June 18 | Monaghan | 0-17 | 1-11 | Warwickshire | Gavin Duffy Park |
| Round 2 ||||||
| June 25 | London | 1-20 | 2-11 | Monaghan | Emerald GAA Grounds |
| June 25 | Warwickshire | 2-7 | 1-15 | Longford | Páirc na hÉireann |
| Round 3 ||||||
| July 9 | Longford | 3-11 | 2-8 | Monaghan | Michael Fay Park |
| July 9 | London | 1-23 | 1-6 | Warwickshire | Emerald GAA Grounds |

## Knockout stage
### Bracket

| Quarter-final playoffs | Quarter-final playoffs | Quarter-final playoffs | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| | | | | | | London | London | 3-13 | | | |
| | | | | | | Donegal | Donegal | 1-10 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | London | London | 5-08 |
| | | | | | | | | | Louth | Louth | 1-05 |
| | | | | | | Louth | Louth | 3-10 | | | |
| | | | | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 1-08 | | | |
| | | | Tyrone | Tyrone | 3-14 | | | | | | |
| Longford | Longford | 2-14 | Longford | Longford | 3-13 | | | | | | |
| Armagh | Armagh | 1-14 | | | | | | | | | |
* The runners-up in groups 3B and 3C played each other with the winner playing the runner up in group 3A. The winner of that match joined the three group winners in the semi-finals.

### Matches

| Game | Date | Venue | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Score |
| Quarter-Final Play off | July 16 | Breffni Park, Cavan | Longford | 2-14 | Armagh | 1-14 (AET) |
| Quarter-Final | July 24 | Breffni Park, Cavan | Tyrone | 3-14 | Longford | 3-13 |
| Semi-Final | August 6 | Drogheda Park, Drogheda | Louth | 3-10 | Tyrone | 1-8 |
| Semi-Final | August 7 | O' Donnell Park, Letterkenny | London | 3-13 | Donegal | 1-10 |

### Final

London are promoted to the 2006 Christy Ring Cup.

#### Match details

The 2005 Nicky Rackard Cup final was used as a curtain raiser for the semi-final of the 2005 Liam MacCarthy Cup. London won the game by a margin of 15 points.
At half time, thanks to two goals in the space of a minute from Barry Shortall and Kevin McMullan, London led by 2-04 to 0-05. Ten minutes into the second half, London re-opened the scoring for a 2-05 to 0-05 lead. Louth subsequently scored what would be their only goal - and only score of the second half. On 57 minutes, McMullan scored a further goal for London. Four minutes later, Sean Quinn kicked in London's fourth goal. Corner forward Dave Burke subsequently scored a fifth on 67 minutes. Burke clipped over a 65 and Gary Fenton added another point for London before the final whistle.
London: JJ Burke; E Phelan, T Simms, B Forde; J Dillon, F McMahon, B Foley 0-1; M Harding 0-01 (1f), M O'Meara; D Smyth, J Ryan, J McGaughan; D Bourke 1-04 (3f), B Shortall 1-00, K McMullan 2-01.
Subs: E Kinlon (for Smyth 36 mins), G Fenton 0-01 (for O'Meara 36 mins), S Quinn 1-00 (for Shortall 55 mins), P Doyle (for Phelan 68 mins), P Finneran (for McMullan 70 mins).
Louth: S Smith; D Black, A Carter, S Darcy; R Byrne, P Dunne, D Mulholland; D McCarthy, S Callan 0-02; T Hilliard, J Carter, D Byrne; G Smith 1-01 (1f), D Dunne 0-01, N McEneaney 0-01.
Subs: G Collins (for R Byrne h/t), S Byrne (for J Carter 53 mins), A Mynes (for McEneaney 65 mins), N Byrne (for Darcy 71 mins).
Referee: T Mahon (Fermanagh).

## Stadia and locations

| County | Location | Province | Stadium(s) | Capacity |
| Neutral | Dublin | Leinster | Croke Park (neutral) | 82,300 |
| Armagh | Armagh | Ulster | Athletic Grounds | 18,500 |
| Cavan | Cavan | Ulster | Breffni Park | 32,000 |
| Donegal | Ballybofey | Ulster | MacCumhaill Park | 18,000 |
| Fermanagh | Enniskillen | Ulster | Brewster Park | 18,000 |
| Leitrim | Carrick-on-Shannon | Connacht | Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada | 9,331 |
| London | South Ruislip | Britain | McGovern Park | 3,000 |
| Longford | Longford | Leinster | Pearse Park | 6,000 |
| Louth | Drogheda | Leinster | Drogheda Park | 3,500 |
| Monaghan | Clones | Ulster | St Tiernach's Park | 36,000 |
| Sligo | Sligo | Connacht | Markievicz Park | 18,558 |
| Tyrone | Omagh | Ulster | Healy Park | 17,636 |
| Warwickshire | Solihull | Britain | Páirc na hÉireann | 4,500 |

## Statistics
### Scoring events

* Widest winning margin: 29 points
** Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh (Round 2)
* Most goals in a match: 12
** Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh (Round 2)
* Most points in a match: 34
** Louth 3-19 - 0-15 Leitrim (Round 1)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 9
** Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh (Round 2)
* Most points by one team in a match: 23
** London 1-23 - 1-06 Warwickshire (Round 3)
* Highest aggregate score: 59 points
** Leitrim 3-06 - 9-17 Armagh (Round 2)
* Lowest aggregate score: 30 points
** Louth 3-10 - 1-08 Tyrone (Semi-finals)

## Miscellaneous

* London won their 1st championship in 10 years, last winning the 1995 All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship.