The 2021 Christy Ring Cup was the 17th staging of the Christy Ring Cup since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 2005. The cup began on 26 June 2021 and ended on 1 August 2021.[1]

2021 Christy Ring Cup
Dates26 June - 1 August 2021
Teams5
Champions Offaly (1st title)
Ben Conneely (captain)
Michael Fennelly (manager)
Runners-up Derry
Cormac O'Doherty (captain)
Dominic McKinley (manager)
Cormac Donnelly (manager)
Relegated Roscommon
Tournament statistics
Matches played8
Goals scored23 (2.88 per match)
Points scored338 (42.25 per match)
Top scorer(s) Eoghan Cahill (0-36)
2020 (Previous) (Next) 2022

Covid-19 caused all London games to be postponed for an extra year.

The final was played on 1 August 2021 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Offaly and Derry, in what was their first ever meeting in a final. Offaly won the match by 0-41 to 2-14 to claim their first ever cup title.[2][3][4]

Offaly's Eoghan Cahill was the Ring Cup's top scorer with 0-36.

Team changes

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To Championship

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Relegated from the Joe McDonagh Cup

  • None

Promoted from the Nicky Rackard Cup

  • None

From Championship

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Promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup

Relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup

  • None

Teams

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General Information

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County Last Cup title Last provincial title Last All-Ireland title Position in 2020 Championship Appearance
  Derry 2001 Round 2 15th
Offaly 1995 1998 Semi-finals 2nd
Roscommon 1913 Semi-finals 13th
  Sligo Round 2 2nd
  Wicklow Round 2

Personnel and kits

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County Manager Captain(s) Sponsor
  Derry
Offaly
Roscommon
  Sligo
  Wicklow

Competition format

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Cup format

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The format has been changed for 2021 with 5 teams playing across two groups, one with 3 teams and one with 2 teams based on an open draw.[1]

Group A will feature 3 teams and be played in a single Round Robin format with each team having one home game and one away game.

Group B will feature 2 teams who will play a single fixture.

All teams will play a knockout format after this group stage, with the group winners and second-placed team in Group A being placed in the semi-finals. A tie between the third-placed team in Group A and second-placed team in Group B will determine the fourth semi-finalist.

Promotion

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The winner of the final will be promoted to the Joe McDonagh Cup.

Relegation

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The loser of the quarter-final will be relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup

Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W D L SF SA Diff Pts Qualification
1   Derry 2 2 0 0 2-42 1-33 +12 4 Advance to Semi-Finals
2   Wicklow 2 1 0 1 2-36 3-34 -1 2
3   Roscommon 2 0 0 2 2-26 2-37 -11 0 Advance to Quarter-Finals

Group A round 1

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26 June 2021 Round 1 Wicklow   2-18 - 1-11   Roscommon Aughrim County Ground
A O'Brien (0-10, 9f), G Hughes (1-1), M Lee (1-3), E Kearns (0-1); L Evans (0-1), C Moorehouse (0-1, sideline), E McCormack (0-1). Report C Egan (1-5, 5f, 1p), C Dolan (0-5, 1f), P Kellehan (0-1). Referee: T Gleeson (Dublin)

Group A round 2

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3 July 2021 Round 2 Roscommon   1-15 - 0-19   Derry Dr. Hyde Park
C Dolan (0-6f); C Kennelly (1-0), C Mulry (0-2), D Heavey (0-2); C Egan (0-2), E Costello (0-1), B McGahon (0-1), C Kenny (0-1). Report C O’Doherty (0-8, 4f, 2 ‘65s); D Foley (0-2), G Bradley (0-2), S McGuigan (0-2), C Kelly (0-1), M McGuigan (0-1), O McKeever (0-1), B Cassidy (0-1), S Cassidy (0-1). Referee: C Mooney (Dublin)

Group A round 3

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10 July 2021 Round 3 Derry   2-23 - 0-18   Wicklow Owenbeg
O McKeever (2-2), C O'Doherty (0-7, 5f, 1 65), S McGuigan (0-4), G Bradley (0-3), E Cassidy (0-2), B Cassidy (0-2), M McGuigan (0-1), D Foley (0-1), P Nelis (0-1). Report A O'Brien (0-12, 9f), S Cranley (0-1), C Moorehouse (0-1), D Staunton (0-1), E Kearns (0-1), G Hughes (0-1), L Evans (0-1). Referee: C McDonald (Antrim)

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W D L SF SA Diff Pts Qualification
1   Offaly 1 1 0 0 2-39 2-17 +22 2 Advance to Semi-Finals
2   Sligo 1 0 0 1 2-17 2-39 -22 0 Advance to Quarter-Finals

Group B round 1

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3 July 2021 Round 1[1] Sligo   2-17 - 2-39   Offaly Markievicz Park
G O'Kelly-Lynch 2-12 (12f), T Cawley, G Connolly, C Hanniffy, F Cawley and A Kilcullen 0-1 each. Report E Cahill 0-15 (9f and 3 '65s'), B Duignan 0-6, A Treacy and S Dooley 1-1 each, L Langton 0-5, J Murphy 0-4, O Kelly and K Sampson 0-2 each, L Fox, J Sampson and L O'Connor 0-1 each. Referee: A Kelly (Galway)

Knockout stage

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Bracket

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Quarter-Finals - 17 July Semi-Finals - 24 July Final - 1 August
         
1A   Derry 0-28
2B   Sligo 2-17
2B   Sligo 2-18
3A   Roscommon 1-20
1A   Derry 2-14
1B   Offaly 0-41
1B   Offaly 6-30
2A   Wicklow 0-11

Quarter-final

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17 July 2021 Quarter-final Roscommon   1-20 - 2-18   Sligo Dr. Hyde Park
C Dolan (4f) 0-8, C Kenny 0-4, N Kilroy 1-0, B McGahon 0-3, O Kelly, C Mulry 0-2 each, M Brennan 0-1 Report M Hanniffy 2-1, G O’Kelly-Lynch 0-6 (5f), T Cawley, A Kilcullen 0-3 each, F Cawley 0-2, G Connolly, C Hanniffy, J McHugh 0-1 each.

Roscommon are relegated to the 2022 Nicky Rackard Cup.

Semi-finals

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24 July 2021 Semi-final Derry   0-28 - 2-17   Sligo Owenbeg
C O’Doherty 0-12 (8 fs), G Bradley 0-5, S McGuigan 0-3, Brian Cassidy and O McKeever 0-2 each, R Mullan, E Cassidy, M McGuigan, D Foley 0-1 each Report G O’Kelly-Lynch 1-6 (5 fs), J McHugh 1-4, C Hanniffy 0-2, T Cawley, A Kilcullen, E Comerford, L O’Kelly-Lynch 0-1 each.
24 July 2021 Semi-final Offaly   6-30 - 0-10   Wicklow Bord na Móna O'Connor Park
E Cahill 0-8 (3f and one sideline), B Duignan 1-4, O Kelly 2-1, L Fox 1-2, B Conneely 1-1, K Sampson 1-0, J Murphy and E Kelly 0-3 each, J Sampson and S Dooley (2f) 0-2 each, A Treacy, L Langton, L O'Connor and C Gath 0-1 each. Report A O'Brien 0-8 (7f), E McCormack, G Weir and W Kinsella 0-1 each.

Final

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1 August 2021 Final Derry   2-14 - 0-41   Offaly Croke Park
C O'Doherty (0-5, 5f), B Cassidy (0-3), D Foley (0-1), G Bradley (1-1), O McKeever (1-1), S Cassidy (0-2), R Mullan (0-1). Report E Cahill (0-13, 8f), O Kelly (0-7), J Murphy (0-5), L Fox (0-2), L Langton (0-1), B Conneely (0-1), J Sampson (0-1), A Treacy (0-3), L O'Connor (0-2), S Kinsella (0-2), S Dooley (0-2, 2f), D Egan (0-1), K Sampson (0-1). Referee: T Gleeson (Dublin)

Offaly are promoted to the 2022 Joe McDonagh Cup.

Statistics

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Top scorers

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Top Scorer Overall
Rank Player County Tally Total Matches Average
1 Eoghan Cahill Offaly 0-36 36 3 12.00
2 Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch Sligo 3-24 33 3 11.00
3 Cormac O'Doherty Derry 0-32 32 4 8.00
4 Andy O'Brien Wicklow 0-30 30 3 10.00
5 Cathal Dolan Roscommon 0-19 19 3 6.33
6 Oisín Kelly Offaly 2-10 16 3 5.33
7 Odhran McKeever Derry 3-06 15 4 3.75
8 Gerald Bradley Derry 1-11 14 4 3.50
9 Brian Duignan Offaly 1-10 13 3 4.33
10 John Murphy Offaly 0-12 12 3 4.00
In a single game
Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition
1 Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch Sligo 2-12 18 Offaly
2 Eoghan Cahill Offaly 0-15 15 Sligo
3 Eoghan Cahill Offaly 0-13 13 Derry
4 Andy O'Brien Wicklow 0-12 12 Derry
Cormac O'Doherty Derry 0-12 12 Offaly
6 Andy O'Brien Wicklow 0-10 10 Roscommon
7 Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch Sligo 1-06 9 Derry
8 Odhran McKeever Derry 2-02 8 Wicklow
Cillian Egan Roscommon 1-05 8 Wicklow
Andy O'Brien Wicklow 0-08 8 Offaly
Cormac O'Doherty Derry 0-08 8 Roscommon
Eoghan Cahill Offaly 0-08 8 Wicklow
Cathal Dolan Roscommon 0-08 8 Sligo

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Draws announced for McDonagh, Ring, Rackard, and Meagher Cups". www.gaa.ie.
  2. ^ "Derry defeated but no disgrace as Offaly lift Christy Ring Cup in Croke Park". Derry Journal. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Free-scoring Offaly crush Derry to win Christy Ring". RTE Sport. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Offaly hit 0-41 in massive Christy Ring Cup final victory over Derry". The 42. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.