2008 National Hurling League

2008 National Hurling League
League details
Dates 10 February 2008 – 20 April 2008
Teams 34
League champions
Winners Tipperary (20th win)
Captain Eoin Kelly
Manager Liam Sheedy
League runners-up
Runners-up Galway
Captain Ollie Canning
Manager Ger Loughnane
Other division winners
Division 2 Westmeath
Division 3 Louth
Division 4 Monaghan
2007
2009

The 2008 National Hurling League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Allianz National Hurling League, was the 77th edition of the National Hurling League (NHL), an annual hurling competition for the GAA county teams. Tipperary won the league, beating Galway in the final.[1][2][3] The tournament saw the first appearance of Fingal and South Down as "county" teams in the NHL.

Format

The 2008 format of the National Hurling League was a new system consisting of four divisions. There are thirty-four teams competing: Divisions One and Two have twelve teams in each, and there are five teams in Divisions Three and Four.

Division One

Division One is made up of two groups of six teams. Each teams plays all the others in their group once. The two group winners receive a semi-final spot; second and third in each group play in the quarter-finals. The winners of the final are the 2008 NHL champions.

Division Two

Division Two is made up of two groups of six teams. Each teams plays all the others in their group once. The top two in each group enter the semi-finals.

Division Three

Five teams play in Division Three. Each teams plays all the others once. The top two teams contest the Division Three final.

Division Four

Five teams play in Division Four. Each teams plays all the others once. The top two teams contest the Division Four final.

Promotion and relegation for 2008
Promoted Relegated
Division 1 - 4
Division 2 0 8
Division 3 0 1
Division 4 0 -

Division 1

National Hurling League Division 1
Season 2008
Champions Tipperary
19th National League title
Captain: Eoin Kelly
Manager: Liam Sheedy
Matches played 36
Top goalscorer Ger Farragher (4-53)
Best goalkeeper Brendan Cummins
James Skehill (3 clean sheets)
Biggest home win Kilkenny 3-22 - 1-8 Antrim
(23 March 2008)
Biggest away win Laois 0-8 - 6-26 Galway
(16 March 2008)
Highest scoring Waterford 3-29 - 3-10 Antrim
(9 March 2008)
2007
2009

All statistics correct as of 19 February 2016.

Waterford came into the season as defending champions of the 2007 season. Laois entered Division 1 as the promoted team.

On 20 April 2008, Tipperary won the title after a 3-18 to 3-16 win over Galway. It was their first league title since 2001 and their 19th National League title overall.[4]

Wexford, Antrim, Laois and Offaly were the bottom-placed teams of their respective groups and were relegated to a newly-structured Division 2 for the 2009 league.

Galway's Ger Farragher was the Division 1 top scorer with 4-53. Tipperary's Brendan Cummins and Galway's James Skehill were the top goalkeepers having kept 3 clean sheets.

Structure

A total of 12 teams contested the top division of the league, including 11 sides from the 2006 season and one promoted from the 2006 National League Division 2. On 29 April 2007, Laois earned promotion from the 2007 National League Division 2 after a one-year absence from the top flight. They were crowned Division 2 champions after beating Wicklow.[5] They replaced Down who were relegated to Division 2 at the end of the previous season.

The 12 teams in Division 1 were divided into two groups of six team - 1A and 1B. Each team played all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. The first-placed teams in 1A and 1B advanced to the league semi-finals. The second and third-placed teams in 1A and 1B advanced to the league quarter-finals.

Division 1A

Pos Team Pld W D L Diff Pts Notes
1 Kilkenny 5 5 0 0 +54 10
2 Cork 5 3 02 +24 6
3 Waterford 5 3 02 +14 6
4 Dublin 51 1 3 –13 3
5 Wexford 5 1 1 3 –23 3 Relegated to Division 2
6 Antrim 5 1 04 –56 2 Relegated to Division 2

Group stage

Division 1B

Pos Team Pld W D L Diff Pts Notes
1 Galway 5 3 2 0 +51 8 Division 1 runners-up
2 Tipperary 5 3 20 +428 Division 1 champions
3 Limerick 5 3 02 +16 6
4 Clare 52 1 2 –1 5
5 Laois 5 1 0 4 –742 Relegated to Division 2
6 Offaly 5 0 14 –34 1 Relegated to Division 2

Group stage

Knock-out stage

Play-off

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Top scorers

Overall
Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average
1 Ger Farragher Galway 4-53 65 7 9.2
2 Eoin Kelly Tipperary 2-56 62
3 Mark Flaherty Clare 5-42 57 5 11.40
4 Andrew O'Shaughnessy Limerick 7-17 38 5 7.60
5 Eoin Kelly Waterford 2-29 35 6 5.83
James Young Laois 1-32 35 5 7.00
7 Stuart Mullen Dublin 0-33 33 5 6.60
8 Brian Carroll Offaly 2-23 29 5 5.80
Liam Watson Antrim 1-26 29 5 5.80
Single game
Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition
1 Ger Farragher Galway 2-12 18 Laois
2 Mark Flaherty Clare 3-8 17 Galway
3 Mark Flaherty Clare 1-12 15 Laois
Eoin Kelly Tipperary 1-12 15 Limerick
5 Ger Farragher Galway 1-11 14 Clare
6 John Mullane Waterford 3-4 13 Dublin
Eoin Kelly Tipperary 1-10 13 Offaly
James Young Laois 1-10 13 Clare
9 Andrew O'Shaughnessy Limerick 2-6 12 Laois
Mark Flaherty Clare 1-9 12 Offaly
Stuart Mullen Dublin 0-12 12 Antrim
Clean sheets
Rank Goalkeeper Team Clean sheets
1 Brendan Cummins Tipperary 3
James Skehill Galway
3 Gary Maguire Dublin 2
Brian Murray Limerick
5 Damien Fitzhenry Wexford 1
Shane O'Connor Offaly
Donal Óg Cusack Cork
Ryan McGarry Antrim
P. J. Ryan Kilkenny
James McGarry Kilkenny

Division 2

Division 2A

Pos Team Pld W D L Diff Pts Notes
1 Westmeath 5 4 0 1 +35 8 Division 2 champions
2 Kerry 5 4 01 +26 8
3 Kildare 5 3 02 -3 6 Relegated to Division 3
4 Mayo 52 0 3 +9 4 Relegated to Division 3
5 Wicklow 5 2 0 3 –24 4 Relegated to Division 3
6 Roscommon 5 0 05 –43 0 Relegated to Division 3

Division 2B

Pos Team Pld W D L Diff Pts Notes
1 Carlow 5 4 1 0 +29 9 Division 2 runners-up
2 Down 5 3 11 +257
3 Meath 5 3 02 +35 6 Relegated to Division 3
4 Derry 53 0 2 –14 6 Relegated to Division 3
5 Armagh 5 1 0 4 –25 2 Relegated to Division 3
6 London 5 0 14 –50 0 Relegated to Division 3

Results

Knock-out stage

Division 3

Division 3

Pos Team Pld W D L Diff Pts Notes
1 Donegal 44 0 0 +23 8 Division 3 runners-up
2 Louth 4 3 01 +16 6 Division 3 champions
3 Longford 3 1 02 +11 2
4 Tyrone 31 1 2 –5 2
5 Sligo 4 0 04 –45 0 Relegated to Division 4

Knock-out stage

Division 4

Division 4

Pos Team Pld W D L Diff Pts Notes
1 South Down 43 0 1 +41 6 Division 3 runners-up
2 Monaghan 4 3 01 +27 6 Division 3 champions
3 Fermanagh 4 3 01 -11 6
4 Cavan 41 0 3 –28 2
5 Leitrim 4 0 04 –29 0

Knock-out stage

2009 structure

References

  1. "National Hurling League Results 1925-2009". Hogan Stand. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
  2. 2002 Hurling League fixtures
  3. "Tipperary give Cody Cats some food for thought". Irish Independent. 21 April 2008. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  4. "Laois put up big win over disappointing Wicklow in one-sided NHL Division 2 final". Irish Independent. 3 May 2007. Retrieved 19 February 2016.

External links

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