# 2018 O'Byrne Cup

The 2018 O'Byrne Cup was played by county teams of Leinster GAA. It began in December 2017 and ended in May 2018.
On 14 January 2018, the result of the Meath versus Longford semi-final was determined by a free-taking competition, as the score was level at the end of both normal time and extra time. Each side took five free kicks from the forty five metre line and Meath won 2-1. This was the first inter-county Gaelic match to be decided in this way (previously the match would have been replayed).
The final was delayed on multiple occasions due to bad weather; it was finally played in May, with Meath the winners.

## Format

There are 11 teams, in three groups of three teams and one group two teams. In the three-team groups, each team plays the other teams once; in the two-team group, the teams play each other in two games. Two group points are awarded for a win and one for a draw.
The four group winners play in the semi-finals and final. If a game is level after the normal seventy minutes, two ten minute periods of extra time are played each way. If the score is still level after extra time, a free-taking competition is held to determine the result.

## Group stage
### Group 1

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Diff |
| Offaly | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | +16 |
| Wexford | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | –15 |
| Dublin | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | –1 |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Offaly | 3-16 - 0-9 | Wexford | O'Connor Park Referee: Niall Ward |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Jordan Hayes 2-0, Bernard Allen 0-6 (0-2f), Cian Johnston 1-3, Sean Doyle 0-4 (0-2f), Bobby O'Dea, Joey O'Connor, Shane Tierney 0-1 each | | Donal Shanley 0-3f, Donnacha Holmes 0-2, Conor Carty, Glen Malone, Mark Rossiter, Cathal Devereux 0-1 each | O'Connor Park Referee: Niall Ward |
| 3 January 2018 8:00 pm | Dublin | 1-13 - 0-16 | Offaly | Parnell Park Referee: Brendan Cawley |
| 3 January 2018 8:00 pm | Colm Basquel 1-6 (0-3f), Shane Carthy 0-3 (0-1f), Gerry Seaver, Kieran Doherty, Killian O'Gara, Chris Carthy 0-1 each | Report | Cian Johnston 0-6, Nigel Dunne 0-4 (0-3f), Anton Sullivan 0-2, Cian Donohue, Declan Hogan, Jordan Hayes, Joey O'Connor 0-1 each | Parnell Park Referee: Brendan Cawley |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | Wexford | 1-12 – 0-14 | Dublin | St. Patrick's Park, Enniscorthy Referee: David Hickey (Carlow) |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | | Report | | St. Patrick's Park, Enniscorthy Referee: David Hickey (Carlow) |

### Group 2

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Diff |
| Longford | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +10 |
| Louth | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | +2 |
| Kildare | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | –12 |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Louth | 1-10 - 2-13 | Longford | Darver Referee: Patrick Coyle |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Ross Nally 1-1, Sam Mulroy 0-3 (0-2f), William Woods (0-1f) and James Butler 0-2 each, Andy McDonnell and Jim McEneaney 0-1 | | Sean McCormack 0-6 (0-4f), Pauric Gill 1-1, Andrew Farrell 1-0, Ronan McEntire 0-2, Paddy Collum (1 '45), Michael Quinn, Dessie Reynolds, Connor Berry 0-1 each | Darver Referee: Patrick Coyle |
| 3 January 2018 8:00 pm | Kildare | 0-9 - 2-11 | Louth | Hawkfield Referee: Fergal Smyth |
| 3 January 2018 8:00 pm | Neil Flynn 0-3, Brian McLoughlin 0-2 (2 frees); Luke Flynn 0-1, Johnny Byrne 0-1, Chris Healy 0-1, Kevin Flynn 0-1 | | Tadhg McEneaney 2-0, Andy McDonnell 0-2, James Butler 0-2 (2 frees), Tommy Durnin 0-2 (1 free), Bevan Duffy 0-1, Gerard McSorley 0-1, Ronan Holcroft 0-1, William woods 0-1, Niall Conlon 0-1. | Hawkfield Referee: Fergal Smyth |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | Longford | 1-14 – 0-13 | Kildare | Pearse Park, Longford Referee: Chris Dwyer |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | R Smyth 1-3 (0-1f); S McCormack 0-6 (4f); R Brady 0-4; D Reynolds 0-1 | Report | K Feely 0-4 (4f); P Cribbin, D Flynn, F Dowling 0-2 each; E Lawless, L Flynn, T Moolick 0-1 each | Pearse Park, Longford Referee: Chris Dwyer |

### Group 3

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Diff |
| Meath | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +20 |
| Carlow | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | +9 |
| Wicklow | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | –29 |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Carlow | 3-8 - 0-6 | Wicklow | Bray Emmets Referee: James King |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | John Murphy 2-1 (1-0 pen), Sean Gannon 1-0, Paul Broderick (0-1f) and Darragh Foly (0-1f) 0-2 each, Ciaran Moran, Diarmuid Walshe, Jamie Clarke 0-1 each | | Mark Jackson (0-2f) and Darren Hayden 0-2 each, Rory Finn and Seanie Furlong (0-1f) 0-1 each | Bray Emmets Referee: James King |
| 3 January 2018 8:00 pm | Meath | 0-9 - 0-7 | Carlow | Dr. Cullen Park Referee: Seamus Mulhare |
| 3 January 2018 8:00 pm | Ben Brennan 0-4 (0-1f), Donal Lenihan 0-3, Graham Reilly and Thomas O'Reilly 0-1 each | | Diarmuid Walshe 0-3 (0-2f), Darragh O'Brien 0-2 (0-1f), Daniel St. Ledger (1 '45) and Darragh Foley 0-1 each | Dr. Cullen Park Referee: Seamus Mulhare |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | Meath | 4-19 – 0-13 | Wicklow | Páirc Tailteann Referee: Stephen Murphy (Louth) |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | | Report | | Páirc Tailteann Referee: Stephen Murphy (Louth) |

### Group 4

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | Diff |
| Westmeath | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | +10 |
| Laois | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | –10 |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Westmeath | 1-13 - 1-12 | Laois | Cusack Park Referee: Patrick Maguire Man of the Match: Luke Loughlin (The Downs) |
| 30 December 2017 2:00 pm | Luke Loughlin 0-5 (0-1f), James Dolan 1-0, Callum McCormack 0-3, Ger Leech (0-2f) and Finbar Coyne 0-2 each, Denis Corroon 0-1 | | Gary Walsh 0-9 (0-7f), Paul Kingston 1-0, Brian Glynn 0-2, Aaron Dowling 0-1 | Cusack Park Referee: Patrick Maguire Man of the Match: Luke Loughlin (The Downs) |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | Laois | 1-13 – 3-16 | Westmeath | Stradbally Referee: Fintan Pierce (Offaly) |
| 7 January 2018 2:00 pm | Ross Munnelly 1-4 (0-2 frees), Eoin Lowry 0-6 (0-5 frees), Niall Donoher, Ronan Murray and Aaron Forbes 0-1 each | Report | Callum McCormack 3-3, Luke Loughlin 0-7 (0-2 frees), Kieran Martin 0-3, John Egan, Conor Slevin (free) and Alex Gardiner 0-1 each | Stradbally Referee: Fintan Pierce (Offaly) |

## Knockout stage
### Semi-finals

* 14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) 14:00 GMT Semi-Final
* Report
| Meath | Longford |
| (HT: 1-5 – 0-4) |||
| Gls: S Tobin Pts: B McMahon (4, 1f), S Tobin (2, 1f), B Menton (2), T O'Reilly (2), J Wallace (2), D O'Neill (2), B Conlon, D Toner, B Brennan (f), M McCabe, J McEntee | Gls: R Smyth, M Quinn Pts: R Smyth (4, 2f), S McCormack (4, 1f), D Reynolds (2), R Brady (2), M Quinn, R McEntire, J McGivney, D Quinn |
| Free-taking competition |||
| Seán Tobin N Mark McCabe Y Cillian O'Sullivan Y Joey Wallace N James McEntee N | N Robbie Smyth Y Sean McCormack N Paddy Colum N Barry Gilleran N James McGiveney |
* Páirc Tailteann, Navan Referee: Darragh Sheppard (Dublin)
* 14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) 14:00 GMT Semi-Final
* Report
| Westmeath | 1-9 – 1-7 | Offaly |
| (HT: 1-7 – 1-2) |||
| Gls: D Corroon Pts: L Loughlin (3, 2f), J Egan (2), D Corroon, C McCormack, K Martin, F Coyne | | Gls: J O’Connor Pts: C Johnson (2), N Dunne (2, 2f), J Hayes, M Brazil, B Allen |
* TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar Referee: David Hickey (Carlow)

### Final

* 13 May 2018 (2018-05-13) 15:00 IST (UTC+1) Final
* Report
| Westmeath | 1-13 (16) – (25) 4-13 | Meath |
* TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar Referee: Fergal Smyth (Offaly)