The 2000 National Hurling League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Church & General National Hurling League, was the 69th edition of the National Hurling League (NHL), an annual hurling competition for the GAA county teams.Gaelic Games Galway won the league, beating Tipperary in the final.
Overview Division 1
The National Hurling League's top division featured fourteen teams divided into two groups - 1A and 1B. Each group consisted of seven teams. Galway and Limerick topped division 1A while Tipperary and Waterford topped division 1B. Galway finished the league undefeated and were crowned champions after defeating Tipp in the final.
Down at the other end of the tables, Kerry and Derry failed to win a single group game and were paired against each other in the relegation play-off. Derry won that game, thus condemning Kerry to division 2 for the following year.
Division 2
Division 2 featured one group of ten teams. Carlow and Meath topped the group and contested the final. Meath won and secured promotion to division 1A for the following year. Tyrone ended the group stage without a single victory and were relegated to division 3 for the following year.
Division 3
Division 3 featured one group of nine teams. Louth finished the group stages undefeated and were joined in the final by Longford who recorded just one defeat. Louth won that game and secured promotion to division 2 for the following year.
Division 1
Tipperary came into the season as defending champions of the 1999 season. Derry entered Division 1 as the promoted team.
On 14 May 2000, Galway won the title following a 2-18 to 2-13 win over Tipperary in the final. It was their first league title since 1995-96 and their sixth National League title overall.
Kerry, who lost all of their group stage matches, were relegated from Division 1 after losing the relegation play-off to Derry by 1-21 to 2-4. Meath won Division 2 and secured promotion to the top tier.
Galway's Fergal Healy was the Division 1 top scorer with 8-27.
Structure
The 14 teams in Division 1 were divided into two groups of seven teams named Division 1A and Division 1B. Each team played all the others in its group once. Two points were awarded for a win and one for a draw. The first two teams in 1A and 1B advanced to the league semi-finals with the top team in Division 1A playing the second team in Division 1B and the second team in Division 1A playing the first in Division 1B. The bottom-placed teams in 1A and 1B faced each other in a play-off to determine which team would be relegated.
Division 1A Table
PosTeamPldWDLDiffPtsNotes1 Galway 66006312 Division 1 champions2 Limerick 650141103 Offaly 64021884 Clare 63032465 Dublin 6204-946 Antrim 6105-4227 Kerry 6006-950 Relegated to Division 2
Group stage
Division 1B Table
PosTeamPldWDLDiffPtsNotes1 Tipperary 65014710Division 1 runners-up2 Waterford 650112103 Kilkenny 64023084 Cork 63033965 Wexford 63031166 Laois 6105-7227 Derry 6006-670
Group stage
Relegation play-off
Division 1 Semi-finals
Division 1 Final
Scoring statistics
Top scorers overall
Rank Player Team Tally Total Matches Average1Fergal HealyGalway8-275177.282Rory GantleyGalway2-445086.253Tommy DunneTipperary3-384785.874Tomás McGraneDublin3-374659.205Henry ShefflinKilkenny2-394567.506Chris McGrathWexford1-414467.337Gregory O'KaneAntrim2-354168.83Paul FlynnWaterford0-414175.859Johnny DooleyOffaly0-404058.0010Geoffrey McGonagleDerry2-283465.66
Top scorers in a single game
Rank Player Team Tally Total Opposition1Fergal HealyGalway5-0217Kerry2Tomás McGraneDublin1-1013Kerry3Eugene CloonanGalway2-0612AntrimTomás McGraneDublin0-1212Galway5Kevin MurrayCork3-0211DerryRory GantleyGalway1-0811ClareJohnny DooleyOffaly0-1111ClareJohnny DooleyOffaly0-1111DublinPaul FlynnWaterford0-1111Wexford10Kevin MurrayCork3-0110LaoisTommy DunneTipperary2-0410KilkennyKen RalphClare1-0710KerryGregory O'KaneAntrim1-0710DublinFergal HealyGalway1-0710AntrimChris McGrathWexford1-0710KilkennyRory GantleyGalway0-1010DublinHenry ShefflinKilkenny0-1010TipperaryMichael SlatteryKerry0-1010GalwayHenry ShefflinKilkenny0-1010Laois
Miscellaneous
Waterford's round 2 defeat of Wexford is their first home league defeat of their southeast neighbours since 1963.
Division 2
Down and Armagh entered Division 2 as the respective relegated and promoted teams from the other divisions.
On 28 May 2000, Meath won the title following a 5-14 to 2-10 win over Carlow in the final.
Tyrone, who lost all of their group stage matches, were relegated from Division 2.
Division 2 table
PosTeamPldWDLPtsNotes1 Meath 980116Division 2 champions2 Carlow 980116Division 2 runners-up3 Westmeath 9702144 Down 9513115 Kildare 841396 Wicklow 840487 London 930668 Roscommon 920749 Armagh 8107210 Tyrone 80080Relegated to Division 3
Group stage
Knock-out stage
Division 3
On 28 May 2000, Louth won the title following a 0-16 to 1-11 win over Longford in the final.
Division 3 table
PosTeamPldWDLPtsNotes1 Louth 871015Division 3 champions2 Longford 871015Division 3 runners-up3 Sligo 841394 Mayo 740385 Leitrim 831476 Monaghan 831477 Fermanagh 820648 Cavan 711539 Donegal 81072
Knock-out stage
References