Mcdonagh Cup gets underway
THE inaugural Joe Mcdonagh Cup kicks off today as a fifth tier is introduced to inter-county hurling.
Six counties – Laois, Westmeath, Antrim, Carlow, Kerry and Meath – will compete for the trophy named after the late former Galway hurler who served as GAA president from from 1997-2000.
It will be played on a round robin basis with the top two teams contesting the final, which will be a curtain raiser to the Leinster hurling final at Croke Park on July 1.
The two finalists will retain an interest in the All-ireland race as they will face the third placed teams in Leinster and Munster in preliminary quarter-finals.
Since the introduction of this competition was given the green light, the presence of five tiers in hurling is held up as an argument in favour of a tiered system in Championship football.
The thinking is at least somewhat flawed.
While the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cups and the Lory Meagher Cup have been functional in so far as it gave counties an outlet for Championship hurling having been idle after the League, the benefits beyond that have been minimal.
It’s difficult to think of many counties who have made significant strides through the tiers. The likes of Down and Derry have fallen far and can only dream capable of troubling elite counties as they did in the 90s and early 00s.
No county has managed to make the step up from Christy Ring standard to Liam Maccarthy. Maybe the Joe Mcdonagh Cup will change that, but don’t hold your breath.
The first round of matches see Meath and Laois at home to Antrim and Westmeath respectively today, while Kerry go to Carlow tomorrow.
Laois are competition favourites and should start with a home win along with Carlow, while Antrim ought to have too much for Meath.