2018 O'Byrne Cup

2018 O'Byrne Cup
Tournament details
Province	Leinster
Year	2018
Trophy	O'Byrne Cup
Winners
Champions	Meath (10th win)
Manager	Andy McEntee
Captain	Bryan Menton
Runners-up
Runners-up	Westmeath
Manager	Colin Kelly
Captain	John Heslin
Other
Matches played	14
	← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 O'Byrne Cup was played by county teams of Leinster GAA. It began in December 2017 and ended in May 2018.^[1]^[2]^[3]

On 14 January 2018, the result of the Meath versus Longford semi-final was determined by a free-taking competition, as the score was level at the end of both normal time and extra time. Each side took five free kicks from the forty five metre line and Meath won 2-1. This was the first inter-county Gaelic match to be decided in this way (previously the match would have been replayed).

The final was delayed on multiple occasions due to bad weather; it was finally played in May, with Meath the winners.^[4]

Format

There are 11 teams, in three groups of three teams and one group two teams. In the three-team groups, each team plays the other teams once; in the two-team group, the teams play each other in two games. Two group points are awarded for a win and one for a draw.

The four group winners play in the semi-finals and final. If a game is level after the normal seventy minutes, two ten minute periods of extra time are played each way. If the score is still level after extra time, a free-taking competition is held to determine the result.

Group stage

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Diff
Offaly	2	1	1	0	3	+16
Wexford	2	1	0	1	2	–15
Dublin	2	0	1	1	1	–1

30 December 2017 2:00 pm	Offaly	3-16 - 0-9	Wexford	O'Connor Park Referee: Niall Ward
	Jordan Hayes 2-0, Bernard Allen 0-6 (0-2f), Cian Johnston 1-3, Sean Doyle 0-4 (0-2f), Bobby O'Dea, Joey O'Connor, Shane Tierney 0-1 each		Donal Shanley 0-3f, Donnacha Holmes 0-2, Conor Carty, Glen Malone, Mark Rossiter, Cathal Devereux 0-1 each	O'Connor Park Referee: Niall Ward

3 January 2018 8:00 pm	Dublin	1-13 - 0-16	Offaly	Parnell Park Referee: Brendan Cawley
	Colm Basquel 1-6 (0-3f), Shane Carthy 0-3 (0-1f), Gerry Seaver, Kieran Doherty, Killian O'Gara, Chris Carthy 0-1 each	Report	Cian Johnston 0-6, Nigel Dunne 0-4 (0-3f), Anton Sullivan 0-2, Cian Donohue, Declan Hogan, Jordan Hayes, Joey O'Connor 0-1 each	Parnell Park Referee: Brendan Cawley

7 January 2018 2:00 pm	Wexford	1-12 – 0-14	Dublin	St. Patrick's Park, Enniscorthy Referee: David Hickey (Carlow)
		Report

Group 2

Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	Diff
Longford	2	2	0	4	+10
Louth	2	1	1	2	+2
Kildare	2	0	2	0	–12

30 December 2017 2:00 pm	Louth	1-10 - 2-13	Longford	Darver Referee: Patrick Coyle
	Ross Nally 1-1, Sam Mulroy 0-3 (0-2f), William Woods (0-1f) and James Butler 0-2 each, Andy McDonnell and Jim McEneaney 0-1		Sean McCormack 0-6 (0-4f), Pauric Gill 1-1, Andrew Farrell 1-0, Ronan McEntire 0-2, Paddy Collum (1 '45), Michael Quinn, Dessie Reynolds, Connor Berry 0-1 each	Darver Referee: Patrick Coyle

3 January 2018 8:00 pm	Kildare	0-9 - 2-11	Louth	Hawkfield Referee: Fergal Smyth
	Neil Flynn 0-3, Brian McLoughlin 0-2 (2 frees); Luke Flynn 0-1, Johnny Byrne 0-1, Chris Healy 0-1, Kevin Flynn 0-1		Tadhg McEneaney 2-0, Andy McDonnell 0-2, James Butler 0-2 (2 frees), Tommy Durnin 0-2 (1 free), Bevan Duffy 0-1, Gerard McSorley 0-1, Ronan Holcroft 0-1, William woods 0-1, Niall Conlon 0-1.	Hawkfield Referee: Fergal Smyth

7 January 2018 2:00 pm	Longford	1-14 – 0-13	Kildare	Pearse Park, Longford Referee: Chris Dwyer
	R Smyth 1-3 (0-1f); S McCormack 0-6 (4f); R Brady 0-4; D Reynolds 0-1	Report	K Feely 0-4 (4f); P Cribbin, D Flynn, F Dowling 0-2 each; E Lawless, L Flynn, T Moolick 0-1 each	Pearse Park, Longford Referee: Chris Dwyer

Group 3

Team	Pld	W	L	Pts	Diff
Meath	2	2	0	4	+20
Carlow	2	1	1	2	+9
Wicklow	2	0	2	0	–29

30 December 2017 2:00 pm	Carlow	3-8 - 0-6	Wicklow	Bray Emmets Referee: James King
	John Murphy 2-1 (1-0 pen), Sean Gannon 1-0, Paul Broderick (0-1f) and Darragh Foly (0-1f) 0-2 each, Ciaran Moran, Diarmuid Walshe, Jamie Clarke 0-1 each		Mark Jackson (0-2f) and Darren Hayden 0-2 each, Rory Finn and Seanie Furlong (0-1f) 0-1 each	Bray Emmets Referee: James King

3 January 2018 8:00 pm	Meath	0-9 - 0-7	Carlow	Dr. Cullen Park Referee: Seamus Mulhare
	Ben Brennan 0-4 (0-1f), Donal Lenihan 0-3, Graham Reilly and Thomas O'Reilly 0-1 each		Diarmuid Walshe 0-3 (0-2f), Darragh O'Brien 0-2 (0-1f), Daniel St. Ledger (1 '45) and Darragh Foley 0-1 each	Dr. Cullen Park Referee: Seamus Mulhare

7 January 2018 2:00 pm	Meath	4-19 – 0-13	Wicklow	Páirc Tailteann Referee: Stephen Murphy (Louth)
		Report		Páirc Tailteann Referee: Stephen Murphy (Louth)

Group 4

Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pts	Diff
Westmeath	2	2	0	0	4	+10
Laois	2	0	0	2	0	–10

30 December 2017 2:00 pm	Westmeath	1-13 - 1-12	Laois	Cusack Park Referee: Patrick Maguire Man of the Match: Luke Loughlin (The Downs)
	Luke Loughlin 0-5 (0-1f), James Dolan 1-0, Callum McCormack 0-3, Ger Leech (0-2f) and Finbar Coyne 0-2 each, Denis Corroon 0-1		Gary Walsh 0-9 (0-7f), Paul Kingston 1-0, Brian Glynn 0-2, Aaron Dowling 0-1

7 January 2018 2:00 pm	Laois	1-13 – 3-16	Westmeath	Stradbally Referee: Fintan Pierce (Offaly)
	Ross Munnelly 1-4 (0-2 frees), Eoin Lowry 0-6 (0-5 frees), Niall Donoher, Ronan Murray and Aaron Forbes 0-1 each	Report	Callum McCormack 3-3, Luke Loughlin 0-7 (0-2 frees), Kieran Martin 0-3, John Egan, Conor Slevin (free) and Alex Gardiner 0-1 each	Stradbally Referee: Fintan Pierce (Offaly)

Knockout stage

Semi-finals

14 January 2018
14:00 GMT
Semi-Final

Report

Meath	1-19 – 2-16 (a.e.t.) (2–1 fk)	Longford
(HT: 1-5 – 0-4)
Gls: S Tobin Pts: B McMahon (4, 1f), S Tobin (2, 1f), B Menton (2), T O'Reilly (2), J Wallace (2), D O'Neill (2), B Conlon, D Toner, B Brennan (f), M McCabe, J McEntee		Gls: R Smyth, M Quinn Pts: R Smyth (4, 2f), S McCormack (4, 1f), D Reynolds (2), R Brady (2), M Quinn, R McEntire, J McGivney, D Quinn
Free-taking competition
Seán Tobin N Mark McCabe Y Cillian O'Sullivan Y Joey Wallace N James McEntee N		N Robbie Smyth Y Sean McCormack N Paddy Colum N Barry Gilleran N James McGiveney

Páirc Tailteann, Navan
Referee: Darragh Sheppard (Dublin)

14 January 2018
14:00 GMT
Semi-Final

Report

Westmeath	1-9 – 1-7	Offaly
(HT: 1-7 – 1-2)
Gls: D Corroon Pts: L Loughlin (3, 2f), J Egan (2), D Corroon, C McCormack, K Martin, F Coyne		Gls: J O’Connor Pts: C Johnson (2), N Dunne (2, 2f), J Hayes, M Brazil, B Allen