The 2014 Galway Senior Hurling Championship was the 117th staging of the

Galway Senior Hurling Championship The Galway Senior Hurling Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the Brooks Galway Senior Hurling Championship) is an annual hurling competition organised by the Galway County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1887 for th ...

since its establishment in 1887. The Preliminary Round and First Round draws were made on 11 March 2014 at the Salthill Hotel.

Gort Gort ( or ) is a town of around 3,000 inhabitants in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Located near the border with County Clare, the town lies between the Burren and the Slieve Aughty and is served by the R458 and R460 regional roads, wh ...

won the final on 14 December 2014.

Format

22 teams contested the 2014 championship. The competition consisted of 2 full rounds of games (and two preliminary rounds), followed by a group stage and then quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final - as well as ''qualifier group'' to help decide which team will be relegated and a Shield Competition.

Matthew Keating Controversy

At a Galway Competitions Control Committee meeting on 2 October 2014 it was ruled that

Turloughmore Turloughmore ( ; ) is a village in County Galway, Ireland. The name means "the large lake," a notable feature of the area, together with the Clare River (''Abhainn an Chláir''). Turloughmore lies on the N63 national secondary road A nationa ...

would forfeit their

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

game against Beagh which was played on 14 September 2014 due to the fielding of an ineligible player. Turloughmore's Matthew Keating had been granted an inter-county transfer to Long Island Gaels in New York deeming him ineligible to play in the Galway Senior Hurling Championship as it is not permitted for a player to play in two different championships in a single year. The group game was forfeited without award of the 2 points to Beagh. Nevertheless, Beagh moved to second in the group and were therefore eligible to play

Ardrahan Ardrahan () is a village in County Galway, Ireland. History Richard de Burgo conquered Galway in 1236, and granted the land to Maurice Fitzgerald who built the castle whose ruins still stand today. The churchyard wall contains the remains ...

in the

quarter finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. All this despite the fact that

and

had already contested the

quarter final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

on 27 September 2014 - a game which has now also been declared null and void.

appealed the decision to the Connacht Council on 8 October 2014 who upheld the decision. A further appeal was lodged with the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA). On 11 October 2014 the Galway County Board released a statement stating that they will establish a new investigation committee to reprocess the request from Beagh to investigate the composition of the

team that played in the Galway Senior Hurling Championship Game on 14 September 2014. Consequently, the quarter final between

and Beagh scheduled for 12 October 2014 was postponed. The new investigation on 22 October 2014 confirmed the initial ruling - that

be eliminated from the championship. Turloughmore's final appeal against their expulsion from the competition failed on 17 November with an official statement released saying "At a hearing before the Disputes Resolution Authority Tribunal, held in Mullingar on Monday evening, 17 November 2014, the appeal of CLG Turloughmore against the decision of the Galway Competitions Control Committee was unsuccessful.”This allows the Galway Senior Hurling Championship to recommence immediately."

Fixtures/Results

Preliminary to Round 1

A single game open draw from the 20 teams excluding the senior and intermediate champions of 2013 -

Portumna Portumna ( - meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where the River Shanno ...

and Kilnadeema-Leitrim.

Round 1

20 Teams: the winner of the Preliminary to Round 1 game plus 19 other teams - all teams excluding the loser of Preliminary to Round 1 game and the 2013 Intermediate Champions Kilnadeema-Leitrim. The 10 games of this round were to be decided by open draw - the winners progressed to the group phase, the losers to Round 2.

Preliminary to Round 2

Another single game open draw - this time from the losers of the Round 1 games. The teams that took part in the Preliminary to Round 1 game were exempt from this game. The loser of this game progressed to the qualifier/relegation group phase.

Round 2

10 Teams: the losing team from the Preliminary to Round 1 game, losing teams from Round 1 plus the winner of the Preliminary to Round 2 game. The winners of the 5 games progressed to the group phase, the losers to the qualifier/relegation group phase.

Group Phase (Rounds 3, 4 & 5)

16 Teams: the 10 winners from Round 1, the 5 winners from Round 2 and the 2013 Intermediate Champions Kilnadeema-Leitrim. An open draw made in the Maldron Hotel, broadcast live on

Galway Bay FM Galway Bay FM is an Irish independent local radio station and operates under a licence from the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. Established in 1989, the station broadcasts from studios in Galway, serving the city and County Galway. Programmi ...

on 13 May 2014 decided 4 groups containing 4 teams each. The top two teams in each group qualified for the Quarter-finals. The third and fourth placed teams played in the Shield Competition.

Group A

Group B

Group C

* Game between

and Beagh has been declared null and void. * The original fixture on 19 July in Athenry was postponed due to torrential rain at half time. The score at the time was Craughwell 0-7 - 0-6 Beagh

=Group C Null and Void Game

= *

forfeited the fixture for playing an ineligible player without award of the game to Beagh. See section " Matthew Keating Controversy"

Group D

Knockout stages

Quarter-Finals

An open draw of the 8 first and second placed teams from the Group Phase was made at Kenny Park, Athenry on 14 September 2014.

=Quarter Final Null and Void game

= * As a result of the

v Beagh

game being voided, this game was also null and voided. See section Matthew Keating Controversy.

Semi-Finals

An open draw of the Quarter-final winners was made in Athenry on 28 September 2014

Final

The 2014 County final was played on 14 December 2014 in Kenny Park, Athenry due to the closure of

Pearse Stadium Pearse Stadium ( ga, Páirc an Phiarsaigh) is the principal GAA stadium in Galway, Ireland. The Galway GAA Gaelic football and hurling teams use the stadium for their home games. The stadium, amongst others in the province of Connacht, is also ...

. The game was shown deferred on

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

. ----

Qualifier Group Phase

Six teams, the losers of the Preliminary to Round 2 game and the Round 2 games. An open draw made on

on 14 May 2014 split the teams into two groups. The top two teams will progress to the Shield Competition. The 4 second and third placed teams will contest relegation.

Qualifier Group A

Qualifier Group B

Relegation

The second and third placed teams from the Qualifier Group Phase cross played. The two losing teams will played each other with the loser being relegated to Intermediate for 2015.

Semi-finals

Final

Kinvara Kinvara or Kinvarra () is a sea port village in the southwest of County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish of Kinvarradoorus in the north of the Barony (Ireland), barony of Kiltartan. Kinvarra is also ...

are relegated.

Shield Competition

10 teams: the 8 third and fourth placed teams from the Group Phase and the top two teams from the Qualifier Group Phase. Two teams were drawn to play two others - the two winning teams plus the 6 other teams will play open drawn quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.

Shield Preliminary Round and Quarter-finals

Carnmore Carnmore () is an electoral area located at the southern end of the parish of Claregalway, approximately east of Galway city in County Galway, Ireland. Carnmore is in a Gaeltacht area, although the majority of residents use English as their ...

Clarinbridge Clarinbridge () is a village in south County Galway, Ireland. It is on the mouth of the Clarin River at the end of Dunbulcaun Bay, which is the easternmost part of Galway Bay. The placename is also spelled Clarenbridge. Notable people *Alexan ...

, Sarsfields, Mullagh, Tynagh-Abbey/Duniry and

were all eliminated before the semi-finals.

Shield Semi-Finals

Final

Scoring

Top Scorers

Individual feats

Cian Burke scored 5-2 from play for

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virtu ...

against

in their

Group D Group D may refer to: * FIA Group D - International Formula racing cars: ** Formula Two ** Formula Three ** Formula 3000 * One of six or eight groups of four teams competing at the FIFA World Cup ** 2022 FIFA World Cup Group D ** 2018 FIFA World ...

clash on 20 July 2014

References

{{2014 County Hurling Championships

Galway Senior Hurling Championship