The All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2008 was the 122nd since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The first matches of the season were played on 25 May 2008, and the championship ended on 7 September 2008. Kilkenny went into the 2008 championship as defending champions, having won their thirtieth All-Ireland title the previous year.
The championship culminated with the All-Ireland final, held at Croke Park, Dublin. The match was contested by Kilkenny and Waterford. It was their first meeting in the final since 1963. Kilkenny won the game by 3–30 to 1–13. It was their third All-Ireland title in succession and a record thirty-first for the county. Kilkenny overtook Cork with the most All Ireland Titles. A position which they have not lost since.
Format
The format of the 2008 championship was slightly different from previous formats:
12 counties participated in Tier 1 of the 2008 Championship. These teams were as follows: Leinster: Dublin, Kilkenny, Laois, Offaly, Wexford Munster: Clare, Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford Connacht: Galway (Connacht representative) Ulster: Antrim (Ulster champions)
Provincial Championships
The Leinster and Munster championships were played as usual. The Leinster and Munster champions advanced directly to the All-Ireland semi-finals. The Ulster champions advanced to the qualifiers. The Connacht championship was not played. Galway entered the qualifiers as Connacht representatives.
All-Ireland Qualifiers
Phase 1: (1 match) This was a single match between Antrim and Galway.
Phase 2: (2 matches) The winner of the phase 1 game played the team eliminated in the first round of the Leinster Championship. The loser of the phase 1 game played the team eliminated in the first round of the Munster Championship.
Phase 3: (2 matches) This phase consisted of two knock-out games between the beaten provincial semi-finalists in Leinster and Munster. Teams from the same province could not meet in these games.
Phase 4: (2 matches) The winners from phase 2 played the winners from phase 3 in a knock-out format.
All-Ireland Series
Quarter-finals: (2 matches) The defeated Munster and Leinster finalists played the winners of the qualifier phase 4 games.
Semi-finals: (2 matches) The Munster and Leinster champions played the winners of the quarter-finals.
Promotion/relegation
The losing teams from the qualifier phase 2 games played off. The loser of this game played a promotion/relegation play-off against the winners of the Christy Ring Cup.
Teams
General information Thirteen counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: one team in the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, six teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and one team in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship. CountyLast provincial titleLast championship titlePosition in 2007 ChampionshipAppearance Antrim2007—Qualifier Group A Clare19981997Quarter-finals Cork20062005Quarter-finals Dublin19611938Qualifier Group B Galway19991988Quarter-finals Kilkenny20072007Champions Laois19491915Qualifier Group A Limerick19961973Runners-up Offaly19951998Qualifier Group B Tipperary20012001Quarter-finals Waterford20071959Semi-finals Westmeath——Champions (Christy Ring Cup) Wexford20041996Semi-finals
Personal and kits TeamColoursSponsorCaptain(s)Manager(s) AntrimSaffron and whiteCreagh ConcretePaddy RichmondTerence 'Sambo' McNaughtonDominic McKinley ClareSaffron and blueVodafoneBrian O'ConnellMike McNamara CorkRed and whiteO2John GardinerGerald McCarthy DublinNavy and blueArnottsStephen HineyTommy Naughton GalwayMaroon and whiteSupermacsOllie CanningGer Loughnane KilkennyBlack and amberGlanbiaJames 'Cha' FitzpatrickBrian Cody LaoisBlue and whiteThe Heritage HotelDamien FoxNiall Rigney LimerickGreen and whiteSporting LimerickMark FoleyRichie Bennis OffalyGreen, white and goldCarroll CuisineKevin BradyJoe Dooley TipperaryBlue and goldEnferEoin KellyPaul OrmondeLiam Sheedy WaterfordWhite and blue3Michael 'Brick' WalshDavy FitzGerald WexfordPurple and yellowWexford CheddarRory JacobJohn Meyler
Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
Munster Senior Hurling Championship
Ulster Senior Hurling Championship
2008 marked the first time in decades that all nine Ulster counties (plus London) competed in the Ulster championship.
Due to the historical strength of Antrim and the relative strength of Down, and more recently Derry and Armagh, a system of seeding was used to prevent one-sided matches. The success of the format was indicated by two 'underdog' victories, for Monaghan over Donegal, and London over Armagh, and a number of close matches. However, Antrim retained the trophy beating Down in the final.
Cup competitions
Christy Ring Cup (Tier 2)
Nicky Rackard Cup (Tier 3)
All-Ireland qualifiers
Relegation play-offs
All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Bracket Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The provincial champions are marked by an asterisk.
All-Ireland quarter-finals
All-Ireland semi-finals
All-Ireland final
Championship statistics Scoring Top scorer from play in the championship: John Mullane for Waterford 2–21 First goal of the championship: Brian Carroll for Offaly against Laois (Leinster quarter-final) Last goal of the championship: Eoin Kelly for Waterford against Kilkenny (All-Ireland final) First hat-trick of the championship: Joe Bergin for Offaly against Limerick (All-Ireland qualifier) Widest winning margin: 26 points Waterford 6–21 : 1–10 Antrim (All-Ireland qualifier) Most goals in a match: 7 Antrim 1–10 : 6–21 Waterford (All-Ireland qualifier) Laois 4–18 : 3–11 Carlow (Relegation final) Most points in a match: 49 Clare 2–26 :0–23 Waterford (Munster quarter-final) Most goals by one team in a match: 6 Waterford 6–21 : 1–10 Antrim (All-Ireland qualifier) Galway 6–21 : 0–15 Antrim (All-Ireland qualifier) Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 Wexford 3–15 : 2–19 Waterford (All-Ireland quarter-final) Carlow 3–11 : 4–18 Laois (Relegation final) Most points scored by a losing team: 23 Waterford 0–23 : 2–26 Clare (Munster quarter-final)
Cards Most yellow cards: Waterford (16) Fewest yellow cards: Galway (1) Most red cards: Antrim, Clare, Cork, Laois and Wexford (1) Fewest red cards: Waterford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick, Dublin, Offaly and Galway (0)
Overall Most goals scored – Waterford (12) Most points scored – Waterford (111) Most goals conceded – Antrim (12) Most points conceded – Waterford (122) Fewest goals scored – Antrim and Limerick (1) Fewest points scored – Carlow (11) Fewest goals conceded – Kilkenny (1) Fewest points conceded – Carlow and Westmeath (18)
Miscellaneous
Kilkenny win their 31st All-Ireland title to become outright leaders on the all-time roll of honour for the first time in their history. Top scorer from play John Mullane didn't win an all star. Waterford become the second top-scoring team in a hurling championship season to have a negative score difference (Westmeath 1961)
Roll of Honour Kilkenny – 31 (2008) Cork – 30 (2005) Tipperary – 25 (2001) Limerick – 7 (1973) Dublin – 6 (1938) Wexford – 6 (1996) Offaly – 4 (1998) Galway – 4 (1988) Clare – 3 (1997) Waterford – 2 (1959) Laois – 1 (1915) London – 1 (1901) Kerry – 1 (1891)
Player facts Debutantes The following players made their début in the 2008 championship:
Player Team Date Opposition GameJames BurkeDublinMay 25WestmeathLeinster quarter-finalNiall CorcoranDublinMay 25WestmeathLeinster quarter-finalNoel CostelloLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-finalJoe DooleyLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-finalGer HealionOffalyMay 25LaoisLeinster quarter-finalEoin HolohanLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-finalNiall HolmesLaoisMay 25OffalyLeinster quarter-finalDiarmuid HoranOffalyMay 25LaoisLeinster quarter-finalSimon LambertDublinMay 25WestmeathLeinster quarter-finalConor MahonOffalyMay 25LaoisLeinster quarter-finalEnda BarrettClareJune 1WaterfordMunster quarter-finalMark FlahertyClareJune 1WaterfordMunster quarter-finalRichie FoleyWaterfordJune 1ClareMunster quarter-finalGary HurneyWaterfordJune 1ClareMunster quarter-finalTadhg KeoghClareJune 1WaterfordMunster quarter-finalSéamus CallananTipperaryJune 8CorkMunster semi-finalBrian CorryCorkJune 8TipperaryMunster semi-finalPat KerwickTipperaryJune 8CorkMunster semi-finalConor O'BrienTipperaryJune 8CorkMunster semi-finalPaudie O'SullivanCorkJune 8TipperaryMunster semi-finalStephen BanvilleWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-finalTommy DwyerWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-finalColm FarrellWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-finalPeter KellyDublinJune 14WexfordLeinster semi-finalBrendan O'LearyWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-finalDavid RedmondWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-finalPaul RyanDublinJune 14WexfordLeinster semi-finalJames TonksWexfordJune 14DublinLeinster semi-finalRichie HoganKilkennyJune 15OffalyLeinster semi-finalT.J. ReidKilkennyJune 15OffalyLeinster semi-finalPaudie O'DwyerLimerickJune 22ClareMunster semi-finalJoe CanningGalwayJune 28AntrimAll-Ireland qualifierCyril DonnellanGalwayJune 28AntrimAll-Ireland qualifierJames SkehillGalwayJune 28AntrimAll-Ireland qualifierPatrick BerginDublinJuly 12CorkAll-Ireland qualifierJamie NagleWaterfordJuly 21OffalyAll-Ireland qualifierPaddy StapletonTipperaryAugust 17WaterfordAll-Ireland semi-final
Retirees The following players played their last game in the 2008 championship:
Player Team Date Opposition Game DébutColin LynchClareJuly 27CorkAll-Ireland quarter-final1997Frank LohanClareJuly 27CorkAll-Ireland quarter-final1995Joe DeaneCorkAugust 10KilkennyAll-Ireland semi-final1996Brian MurphyCorkAugust 10KilkennyAll-Ireland semi-final2004Diarmuid O'SullivanCorkAugust 10KilkennyAll-Ireland semi-final1997Éamonn CorcoranTipperaryAugust 17WaterfordAll-Ireland semi-final1999Dave BennettWaterfordSeptember 7KilkennyAll-Ireland final1997Tom FeeneyWaterfordSeptember 7KilkennyAll-Ireland final1995Paul FlynnWaterfordSeptember 7KilkennyAll-Ireland final1993James McGarryKilkennySeptember 7WaterfordAll-Ireland final1999
Top scorers Season Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average1Eoin KellyWaterford7–4364512.82Henry ShefflinKilkenny1–3740410.03David O'CallaghanDublin2–333949.75Joe CanningGalway4–2739313.05Brian CarrollOffaly0–373749.256Ben O'ConnorCork1–323557.07Martin FinnLondon1–2932310.678John MullaneWaterford2–212755.49Niall GilliganClare1–212446.0Eoin KellyTipperary1–212438.011Eddie BrennanKilkenny4-092145.2
Single game Rank Player County Tally Total Opposition1Eoin KellyWaterford2–1319Offaly2Joe CanningGalway2–1218Cork3Brian CarrollOffaly0–1616Laois4Eoin KellyWaterford1–1013Tipperary5David O'CallaghanDublin1–912WexfordBen O'ConnorCork0–1212GalwayEoin KellyWaterford1–912KilkennyJoe CanningGalway2–612Antrim9Henry ShefflinKilkenny0–1111OffalyEoin KellyWaterford1–811WexfordHenry ShefflinKilkenny0–1111CorkJoe BerginOffaly3–211Limerick13Dave BennettWaterford0–1010ClareDavid O'CallaghanDublin0–1010CorkHenry ShefflinKilkenny1–710WexfordMark FlahertyClare1–710WaterfordEoin KellyTipperary1–710CorkEddie BrennanKilkenny2–410Waterford19Noel CostelloLaois0–99OffalyDavid O'CallaghanDublin0–99WexfordJoe CanningGalway0–99LaoisBrian CarrollOffaly0–99WaterfordDavid O'CallaghanDublin1–69WestmeathWillie HylandLaois2–39OffalyEoin KellyWaterford2–39Antrim
Clean sheets
Rank Goalkeeper County Clean sheets1P.J. Ryan Kilkenny4
Monthly awards MonthVodafone Player of the MonthOpel GPA Player of the MonthPlayerCountyPlayerCountyMayBrian CarrollOffalyDavid O'CallaghanDublinJuneBrian O'ConnellClareBrian O'ConnellClareJulyJoe CanningGalwayJoe CanningGalwayAugustEoin KellyWaterfordDerek LyngKilkennySeptemberEddie BrennanKilkennyEoin LarkinKilkenny
Annual awards Vodafone Hurler of the Year The Vodafone Hurler of the Year award for 2008 was won by Eoin Larkin of Kilkenny.
The shortlist for the Vodafone Hurler of the Year award, in alphabetical order, was as follows: