# 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup

The 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup was the second staging of the Joe McDonagh Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2018. The fixtures were announced on 11 October 2018. The competition began on 11 May 2019 and ended on 30 June 2019.
On 30 June 2019, Laois won the Joe McDonagh Cup following a 3-26 to 1-21 defeat of Westmeath in the final at Croke Park. This was their first ever Joe McDonagh Cup title.
Offaly were relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup after losing all of their group stage games.
Westmeath's Killian Doyle was the competition's top scorer with 3-61.

## Team changes
### To Championship

Relegated from the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
* Offaly
Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup
* None

### From Championship

Promoted to the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
* Carlow
Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup
* Meath

## Teams
### General Information

| County | Last Provincial title | Last All-Ireland title | Position in 2018 Championship | Appearance |
| Antrim | 2017 | — | 5th | 2nd |
| Kerry | 1891 | 1891 | 3rd | 2nd |
| Laois | 1949 | 1915 | 4th | 2nd |
| Offaly | 1995 | 1998 | 5th (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) | 1st |
| Westmeath | — | — | Runners-up | 2nd |

### Personnel and kits

| County | Manager | Captain(s) | Sponsor |
| Antrim | Neal Peden | Conor McCann | Fona Cab |
| Kerry | Fintan O'Connor | Martin Stackpoole | Kerry Group |
| Laois | Eddie Brennan | Patrick Purcell | MW Hire Services |
| Offaly | Kevin Martin (to 20 May) and Joachim Kelly (from 20 May) | Pat Camon | Carroll Cuisine |
| Westmeath | Joe Quaid | Aonghus Clarke | Renault |

## Competition format

Initially each of the five teams play the other four teams in single round-robin matches. The top two teams after the round robin games play the third-placed teams in the Leinster and Munster championships in the two All-Ireland preliminary quarter finals with the Joe McDonagh Cup teams having home advantage. The top two teams also compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup final.
Promotion to Leinster or Munster SHC
If the Joe McDonagh champions are a non-Munster team, they are automatically promoted to the following year's Leinster Championship and the bottom-placed team in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship are automatically relegated to the following year's Joe McDonagh Cup. If the champions are a Munster team, they must win a play-off with the bottom-placed team in the Munster Championship to gain promotion to the following year's Munster Championship.
Relegation
The bottom-placed team in the Joe McDonagh Cup, Offaly are automatically relegated to the following year's Christy Ring Cup and are replaced by the 2019 Christy Ring Cup Champions, Meath.

## Group Stage
### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | SF | SA | Diff | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Laois | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12-85 | 6-83 | +20 | 7 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 2 | Westmeath | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6-85 | 2-78 | +19 | 5 | Advance to Final and All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals |
| 3 | Antrim | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7-82 | 6-85 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | Kerry | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3-74 | 11-68 | -18 | 4 | |
| 5 | Offaly | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8-69 | 11-81 | -21 | 0 | Relegated to Christy Ring Cup |

### Rounds 1 to 5
#### Round 5
## Final

* 30 June 2019 13:45 Joe McDonagh Cup Final
* report
| Laois | 3-26 (35) – (24) 1-21 | Westmeath |
| (HT: 2-11 - 1-10) |||
| Gls: R King 1, A Dunphy 1, S Bergin 1. Pts: M Kavanagh (6f) 12, A Dunphy 4, E Lyons 3, J Lennon 2, C Dwyer 2, N Foyle 2, P Purcell 1. | | Gls: K Doyle 1. Pts: K Doyle (6f) 11, C Doyle 2, S Clavin 1, A Clarke 1, C Boyle 1, A Devine 1, D McNicholas 1, L Varley 1, J Boyle 1, E Price 1. |
* Croke Park, Dublin Referee: C Cunning (Antrim)
Laois are promoted to the 2020 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.

## Stadia and locations

Five teams competed in the 2019 Joe McDonagh Cup - a reduction from six that competed in the inaugural competition.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Antrim | Ballycastle | Páirc Mac Uílín | 4,900 |
| Kerry | Tralee | Austin Stack Park | 12,000 |
| Laois | Portlaoise | O'Moore Park | 27,000 |
| Offaly | Tullamore | O'Connor Park | 20,000 |
| Westmeath | Mullingar | Cusack Park | 11,000 |

## Statistics
### Top scorers
#### Overall

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| 1 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 3-61 | 70 | 5 | 14.00 |
| 2 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-44 | 44 | 4 | 11.00 |
| 3 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 1-30 | 33 | 4 | 8.25 |
| 4 | Mark Kavanagh | Laois | 0-30 | 30 | 3 | 10.00 |
| 5 | Joe Bergin | Offaly | 1-26 | 29 | 4 | 7.25 |
| 6 | Cha Dwyer | Laois | 2-13 | 19 | 4 | 4.75 |
| 7 | Ross King | Laois | 2-09 | 15 | 5 | 3.00 |
| 7 | Aaron Dunphy | Laois | 2-09 | 15 | 5 | 3.00 |
| 8 | Oisín Kelly | Offaly | 4-05 | 17 | 4 | 4.25 |
| 9 | Keelan Molloy | Antrim | 2-07 | 13 | 4 | 3.25 |
| 9 | Pádraig Boyle | Kerry | 2-07 | 13 | 4 | 4.25 |
| 9 | Stephen Maher | Laois | 0-13 | 13 | 3 | 4.33 |

#### Top scorers in a single game

| Rank | Player | Club | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| 1 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 0-17 | 17 | Antrim |
| 2 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-12 | 15 | Offaly |
| 3 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-11 | 14 | Kerry |
| 3 | Killian Doyle | Westmeath | 1-11 | 14 | Laois |
| 4 | Neil McManus | Antrim | 0-13 | 13 | Westmeath |
| 4 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-13 | 13 | Westmeath |
| 5 | Mark Kavanagh | Laois | 0-12 | 12 | Westmeath |
| 6 | Joe Bergin | Offaly | 0-11 | 11 | Laois |
| 6 | Mark Kavanagh | Laois | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly |
| 6 | Shane Conway | Kerry | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly |

### Scoring Events

* Widest winning margin: 14 points
** Antrim 3-19 - 0-14 Kerry (Round 1)
* Most goals in a match: 7
** Offaly 3-21 - 4-22 Laois (Round 1)
** Offaly 4-18 - 3-23 Antrim (Round 3)
* Most points in a match: 50
** Antrim 0-21 - 0-29 Westmeath (Round 4)
* Most goals by one team in a match: 5
** Kerry 1-21 - 5-17 Laois (Round 4)
* Most points by one team in a match: 29
** Antrim 0-21 - 0-29 Westmeath (Round 4)
* Highest aggregate score: 64 points
** Offaly 3-21 - 4-22 Laois (Round 1)
* Lowest aggregate score: 40 points
** Kerry 1-18 - 1-16 Offaly (Round 5)

## Miscellaneous

* Westmeath become the first county to contest consecutive Joe McDonagh Cup finals.
* Laois won their 1st championship in 17 years, winning the 2002 All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship.
* Offaly hold the dubious distinction of being the only team to be relegated to hurling's third-tier, having previously been relegated from the tier-one Leinster championship, in successive seasons.
* First-time Joe McDonagh Cup meetings:
** Offaly v Laois (Round 1)
** Westmeath v Offaly (Round 2)
** Offaly v Antrim (Round 3)
** Kerry v Offaly (Round 5)