Misplaced Pages

The 2019 O'Byrne Cup was played by county teams of Leinster GAA in December 2018 and January 2019.

The draw took place on 26 September 2018.

Several new rules are being trialled in the competition:

• four consecutive handpasses were forbidden
• the "advanced mark" was introduced
• sideline kicks must go forward (unless inside the attacking 20-metre line)
• all kickouts are from the 20-metre line
• a "sin bin" for a black card offence.

It was won by Westmeath.

Competition format

One team (Dublin) received a bye to the semi-finals. The remaining ten teams were drawn to play in one group of four teams and two groups of three teams.

In the four-team group, each team plays the other teams in their group once. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw.

In the two three-team groups, each team played the other teams in their group once. Each team also played one game against a team from the other three-team group. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw.

The three group winners advanced to the semi-finals.

Group stage

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Westmeath	3	2	1	0	39	29	+10	5	Advance to semi-final
2	Kildare	3	2	0	1	49	36	+13	4
3	Carlow	3	1	0	2	38	48	−10	2
4	Offaly	3	0	1	2	42	55	−13	1

9 December 2018 (2018-12-09) Round 1	Carlow	0-08 (08) – (12) 0-12	Westmeath	Carlow
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Dr. Cullen Park
		Report

15 December 2018 (2018-12-15) Round 2	Kildare	0-16 (16) – (09) 1-06	Carlow	Newbridge
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: St. Conleth's Park
		Report		Referee: G Hurley (Westmeath)

20 December 2018 (2018-12-20) Round 1	Offaly	0-11 (11) – (23) 1-20	Kildare	Kilcormac
19:45 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Faithful Fields
		Report

29 December 2018 (2018-12-29) Round 2	Westmeath	0-11 (11) – (11) 0-11	Offaly	Mullingar
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: St. Loman's Sports Ground
		Report

5 January 2019 (2019-01-05) Round 3	Carlow	3-12 (21) – (20) 2-14	Offaly	Carlow
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Dr. Cullen Park

6 January 2019 (2019-01-06) Round 3	Westmeath	1-13 (16) – (10) 1-07	Kildare	Mullingar
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: The Downs

Three-team groups

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Longford	3	2	1	0	38	36	+2	5	Advance to semi-final
2	Louth	3	1	1	1	48	47	+1	3
3	Wicklow	3	0	0	3	37	47	−10	0

8 December 2018 (2018-12-08) Round 1	Longford	1-07 (10) – (09) 1-06	Wicklow	Newtownforbes
19:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Bertie Allen Park
		Report		Referee: Niall Ward (Westmeath)

29 December 2018 (2018-12-29) Round 2	Wicklow	1-09 (12) – (20) 1-17	Louth	Bray
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Bray Emmets Ground
		Report

5 January 2019 (2019-01-05) Round 3	Longford	1-16 (19) – (19) 1-16	Louth	Longford
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Pearse Park
		Report

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts	Qualification
1	Meath	3	2	0	1	51	31	+20	4	Advance to semi-final
2	Wexford	3	2	0	1	51	46	+5	4
3	Laois	3	1	0	2	37	55	−18	2

8 December 2018 (2018-12-08) Round 1	Laois	0-06 (06) – (20) 3-11	Meath	Portlaoise
18:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: O'Moore Park
		Report		Referee: Fintan Pierce (Offaly)

20 December 2018 (2018-12-20) Round 2	Wexford	2-13 (19) – (14) 1-11	Laois	Enniscorthy
20:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: St. Patrick's Park
		Report

5 January 2019 (2019-01-05) Round 3	Wexford	1-13 (16) – (23) 1-20	Meath	New Ross
14:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: O'Kennedy Park
		Report

Cross-group games

The three teams in Group 2 play the three teams in Group 3 with each team having a single game.

8 December 2018 (2018-12-08) Round 1	Louth	1-06 (09) – (16) 0-16	Wexford	Readypenny
17:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Darver Centre of Excellence
		Report		Referee: David O’Connor (Dublin) Attendance: 100

15 December 2018 (2018-12-15) Round 2	Meath	1-05 (08) – (09) 0-09	Longford	Ashbourne
17:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Donaghmore Ashbourne GAA
		Report		Referee: Alan Coyne (Westmeath)

5 January 2019 (2019-01-05) Round 3	Wicklow	2-10 (16) – (17) 2-11	Laois	Bray
18:00 GMT (UTC±0)				Venue: Bray Emmets Ground

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

The three group winners plus the team given a bye (Dublin) compete in the semi-finals. The two winners advance to the final.

Westmeath	2-10 (16) – (04) 0-04	Longford
(HT: 1-05 – 0-01)

Dublin	1-12 (15) – (15) 1-12 (3–1 pen)	Meath
(HT: 1-07 – 1-07)
Penalty kicks
Aaron Byrne Y Oisín Lynch Y Conor McHugh Y		N Mickey Newman N Thomas O'Reilly Y Seán Tobin N Barry Dardis

Final

Dublin	0-10 (10) – (15) 1-12	Westmeath
(HT: 0-04 – 0-05)
Pts: Aaron Byrne 3, Conor McHugh 3 (2f), Sean Bugler 3, Stephen Smith 1 (f)		Gls: Ger Egan 1 Pts: Ger Egan 5 (1f), Tommy McDaniel 3, Ronan O’Toole 2, Kieran Martin 1, Ger Leech 1

References

1. Hartnett, Alan (27 September 2018). "Draws made for O'Byrne Cup and Walsh Cup competitions".
2. "2019 O'Byrne Cup draw: Royals to face Laois as Dubs get bye - HoganStand". www.hoganstand.com. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
3. "New football rules have tame debut in the O'Byrne Cup". Independent.ie.
4. O'Brien, Kevin. "Positive start for Gaelic football's new rules in Meath's 14-point win over Laois". The42.
5. "O'Byrne Cup: Ger Egan hits 1-5 as Westmeath defeat Dublin".

External links

• Official site

• 2019 in Gaelic football
• O'Byrne Cup