The 2004 National Hurling League, known for sponsorship reasons as the

Allianz Allianz ( , ) is a German multinational financial services company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its core businesses are insurance and asset management. The company is one of the world's largest insurers and financial services groups. The ...

National Hurling League, was the 73rd edition of the

National Hurling League The National Hurling League is an annual Inter county, inter-county hurling competition featuring teams from Ireland and England. Founded in 1925 by the Gaelic Athletic Association, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation within the l ...

(NHL), an annual

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

competition for the

GAA county teams A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland has ...

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

won the league, beating

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in the final.

Structure

Division 1

There are 12 teams in Division 1, divided into 1A and 1B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The top three in 1A and 1B advance to the Division 1 Final Group. *The bottom three in 1A and 1B go into the Division 1 Relegation Group. Each team in the Final Group plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first five games. The top two teams go into the NHL final – only points earned in these last three games count. Each team in the Relegation Group plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first five games. The bottom team is relegated – only points earned in these last three games count.

Division 2

There are 10 teams in Division 2, divided into 2A and 2B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The top three in 2A and 2B advance to the Division 2 Promotion Group. *The bottom two in 2A and 2B go into the Division 2 Relegation Group. Each team in the Promotion Group plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first four games. The top two teams go into the Division 2 final – only points earned in these last three games count. Final winners are promoted. Each team in the Relegation Group plays the other two teams that it did not play in the first four games. The bottom team is relegated – only points earned in these last two games count.

Division 3

There are 10 teams in Division 3, divided into 3A and 3B. Each team plays all the others in its group once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. *The top three in 3A and 3B advance to the Division 3 Promotion Group. *The bottom two in 3A and 3B go into the Division 3 Shield Group. Each team in the Promotion Group plays the other three teams that it did not play in the first four games. The top two teams go into the Division 3 final – only points earned in these last three games count. Final winners are promoted. Each team in the Shield Group plays the other two teams that it did not play in the first four games. The top two play the Division 3 Shield Final.

Overview

Division 1

won their first league title in four seasons, as 'the Westerners' recorded two defeats throughout the entire league.

, who were league runners-up, suffered three defeats in the group stages before falling to Galway in the final. Down at the other end of the table,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and Antrim went through the initial group stages without a single victory. However, a relegation group of six teams resulted in

Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

ending up at the bottom and facing relegation for the following season.

Division 1

Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...

came into the season as defending champions of the

2003 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. Antrim entered Division 1 as the promoted team. On 9 May 2004,

won the title following a 2-15 to 1-13 win over

in the final. It was their first league title since

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and their 8th National League title overall.

, who were unlucky not to make the final group, were relegated from Division 1 after losing all of their group stage matches in the relegation group. Galway's

Eugene Cloonan Eugene Cloonan (born 22 December 1978) is an Irish retired hurler who played as a full-forward for the Galway senior team. Born in Athenry, County Galway, Cloonan first played competitive hurling whilst at school at Athenry Vocational Schoo ...

was the Division 1 top scorer with 10-62.

Division 1A table

Group stage results

Division 1B table

Group stage results

Group 1 table

Group 1 results

Group 2 table

Group 2 results

Knock-out stage

Final

Scoring statistics

;Top scorers overall ;Top scorers in a single game

Division 2

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and

Mayo Mayo often refers to: * Mayonnaise, often shortened to "mayo" * Mayo Clinic, a medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, United States Mayo may also refer to: Places Antarctica * Mayo Peak, Marie Byrd Land Australia * Division of Mayo, an Aust ...

entered Division 2 as the respective relegated and promoted teams from the 2003 season. On 9 May 2004, Down won the title following a 5-15 to 3-7 win over

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

in the final. Mayo were relegated from Division 2 after losing all of their group stage matches in the relegation group. Westmeath's

Andrew Mitchell Andrew John Bower Mitchell (born 23 March 1956) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sutton Coldfield since 2001. A member of the Conservative Party, Mitchell was previously the MP for Gedling from 1987 to 199 ...

was the Division 2 top scorer with 1-56.

Division 2A table

Group stage results

Division 2B table

Group stage results

Group 1 table

Group 1 results

Group 2 table

Group 2 results

Knock-out stage

Final

Scoring statistics

;Top scorers overall ;Top scorers in a single game

Division 3

Division 3A table

Group stage results

Division 3B table

Group 1 table

Group 2 table

Knock-out stage

Shield final Final

References

External links

National Hurling League Division 1 results from 2004
{{National Hurling Leagues

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

National Hurling League seasons