# 2022 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2022 Joe McDonagh Cup is the fifth staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018. The fixtures were published in December 2021.
Westmeath, winner of the 2021 final, were promoted to the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, replaced by Antrim who were relegated back to this competition. Offaly were promoted from the Christy Ring Cup.
The top 2 teams from the round robin stage will play off in the final to decide the winner. Both will advance to the 2022 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship knock-out stages. The bottom team will be relegated to Christy Ring Cup.

## Team changes
### To Championship

Relegated from the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
* Antrim
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
* Offaly

### From Championship

Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
* Westmeath
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
* Kildare

## Format
### Cup format

Initially each of the six teams play the other five teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions and runners-up also advance to the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage.

#### Promotion

If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship. If the champions are a Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Munster Championship. The Joe McDonagh Cup champions replace the bottom-placed team in the provincial championship containing six teams.

#### Relegation

The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the Christy Ring Cup champions.

### Teams by province

The participating teams, listed by province, with numbers in parentheses indicating final positions in the 2022 National Hurling League before the championship were:
Leinster (3)
* Carlow (16)
* Meath (19)
* Offaly (13)
Munster (1)
* Kerry (15)
Ulster (2)
* Antrim (11)
* Down (14)

## Teams
### General Information

Six counties will compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup:
| County | Last Cup title | Last Provincial Title | Last All-Ireland Title | Position in 2021 Championship | Appearance |
| Antrim | 2020 | 2017 | — | 6th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | 4th |
| Carlow | 2018 | — | — | Group Stage | 4th |
| Down | — | 1997 | — | Group Stage | 2nd |
| Kerry | — | 1891 | 1891 | Runners-up | 5th |
| Meath | — | — | — | Group Stage | 4th |
| Offaly | — | 1995 | 1998 | Champions (Christy Ring Cup) | 2nd |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain(s) | Sponsor |
| Antrim | Darren Gleeson | — | fona CAB |
| Carlow | Tom Mullally | — | IT Carlow |
| Down | Ronan Sheehan | — | EOS IT Solutions |
| Kerry | Fintan O’Connor | — | Kerry Group |
| Meath | Nick Weir | — | Glenveagh Properties |
| Offaly | Michael Fennelly | — | Glenisk |

## Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Antrim | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 20-116 | 9-104 | +45 | 8 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals |
| 2 | Kerry | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 11-121 | 7-91 | +42 | 6 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Finals |
| 3 | Carlow | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7-114 | 6-96 | +21 | 6 | |
| 4 | Offaly | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9-112 | 7-109 | +9 | 6 | |
| 5 | Down | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 9-100 | 11-110 | -16 | 4 | |
| 6 | Meath | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5-81 | 21-134 | -101 | 0 | Relegation to Christy Ring Cup |

### Round 5
## Final

Antrim qualify for the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship and are promoted to the 2023 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, replacing Laois.

## Stadia and locations

| County | Location | Province | Stadium | Capacity |
| Antrim | Belfast | Ulster | Corrigan Park | 3,700 |
| Carlow | Carlow | Leinster | Dr Cullen Park | 21,000 |
| Down | Newry | Ulster | Páirc Esler | 20,000 |
| Kerry | Tralee | Munster | Austin Stack Park | 12,000 |
| Meath | Navan | Leinster | Páirc Tailteann | 11,000 |
| Offaly | Tullamore | Leinster | O'Connor Park | 18,000 |

## Statistics
### Top scorers
#### Top scorer overall

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 3-64 | 73 | 6 | 12.16 |
| 2 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 0-62 | 62 | 5 | 12.40 |
| 3 | Conal Cunning | Antrim | 2-55 | 61 | 5 | 12.20 |
| 4 | Martin Kavanagh | Carlow | 2-49 | 55 | 5 | 11.00 |
| 5 | Jack Regan | Meath | 3-42 | 51 | 5 | 10.20 |
| 6 | Paul Sheehan | Down | 0-35 | 35 | 5 | 7.00 |
| 7 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 3-24 | 33 | 6 | 5.50 |
| 8 | Chris Nolan | Carlow | 2-16 | 22 | 5 | 4.40 |
| 9 | Daithí Sands | Down | 4-08 | 20 | 5 | 4.00 |
| 9 | Ciarán Clarke | Antrim | 4-08 | 20 | 4 | 5.00 |

#### In a single game

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 2-11 | 17 | Antrim |
| 2 | Martin Kavanagh | Carlow | 1-13 | 16 | Down |
| 2 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 0-16 | 16 | Down |
| 4 | Conal Cunning | Antrim | 1-12 | 15 | Kerry |
| 4 | Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 0-15 | 15 | Antrim |
| 4 | Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 0-15 | 15 | Offaly |
| 7 | Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 1-11 | 14 | Carlow |
| 7 | Conal Cunning | Antrim | 1-11 | 14 | Carlow |
| 7 | Eoghan Cahill | Offaly | 0-14 | 14 | Antrim |
| 7 | Paul Sheehan | Down | 0-14 | 14 | Kerry |
| 7 | Jack Regan | Meath | 0-14 | 14 | Offaly |

### Scoring events

* Widest winning margin: 30 points
** Kerry 6-25 - 0-13 Meath (round 3)
* Most goals in a match: 10
** Meath 3-13 - 7-29 Antrim (round 4)
* Most points in a match: 51
** Kerry 2-28 - 4-23 Offaly (round 4)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 7
** Meath 3-13 - 7-29 Antrim (round 4)
* Most points by one team in a match: 30
** Meath 0-17 - 4-30 Carlow (round 1)
* Highest aggregate score: 73 points
** Antrim 5-22 - 4-24 Kerry (final)
* Lowest aggregate score: 39 points
** Offaly 0-17 - 0-22 Carlow (round 5)

## Miscellaneous

* Antrim won their 1st championship in 2 years since winning the 2020 Joe McDonagh Cup.
* Antrim become the first team to win the Joe McDonagh Cup twice.
* Kerry become the first team to contest 3 Joe McDonagh Cup finals in a row and also lose 3 finals in a row.
* Meath become the first team to be relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup twice.
* Meath holds the record for most goals conceded (21) and most points conceded (197) in a single Joe McDonagh Cup campaign.
* First-time Joe McDonagh Cup meetings:
** Offaly v Meath (Round 2)
** Down v Antrim (Round 2)
** Down v Offaly (Round 3)
** Carlow v Down (Round 4)
** Offaly v Carlow (Round 5)