2018 Dr McKenna Cup

The 2018 Dr McKenna Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup, was a Gaelic football competition in the province of Ulster for county and university teams. It is normally held at the beginning of the GAA season.

2018 Dr McKenna Cup
Tournament details
Province Ulster
Year2018
SponsorBank of Ireland[1]
Dates3 January — 17 February
Teams12
Defending champions Tyrone
Winners
ChampionsDonegal (11th win)
ManagerDeclan Bonner
CaptainHugh McFadden
Runners-up
Runners-upTyrone
ManagerMickey Harte
CaptainMattie Donnelly
Other
Matches played21
WebsiteUlster GAA

Twelve teams take part – the nine Ulster county teams and three university teams, i.e. St Mary's University College, Belfast, Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University at Jordanstown (UUJ).

The draw took place on Thursday 30 November in the Balmoral Hotel, Belfast [2] with the fixtures confirmed following a meeting of Comhairle Uladh CCC on Tuesday 5 December 2017. [3]

After many postponements due to bad winter weather, the tournament ended on 17 February 2018 with Donegal the winners, ending a six-year Tyrone winning streak.

Format

Group Stage

The twelve teams are drawn into three sections of four teams, with each section containing three county teams and one university team. Each team plays the other teams in its section once, earning 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. A "scoring-average/points-ratio" method is used to determine the ranking of teams who are level on section points (as opposed to "scoring differential").[4]

Knock-out Stage

The winners of the three sections and the best runner-up compete in the semi-finals with the two winners meeting in the final.

Group stage

Section A

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PR Pts Qualification
1 Tyrone 3 3 0 0 79 38 2.079 6 Advance to semi-final
2 St Mary's 3 1 0 2 46 49 0.939 2
3 Antrim 3 1 0 2 55 71 0.775 2
4 Cavan 3 1 0 2 41 63 0.651 2
Updated to match(es) played on 14 January 2018. Source: Ulster GAA
3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) Round 1 Tyrone 4-20 (32) – (17) 2-11 Antrim Armagh  
8:00pm (HT: 1-10 – 0-04) Venue: Athletic Grounds
Referee: Enda McFeely (Donegal)


3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) Round 1 Cavan 0-15 (15) – (12) 0-12 St. Mary's Cavan  
8:00pm (HT: 0-05 – 0-08) Venue: Breffni Park 3G
Referee: Kevin Faloon (Down)


7 January 2018 (2018-01-07) Round 2 Antrim 4-11 (23) – (19) 2-13 Cavan Belfast  
2:00pm (HT: 2-06 – 1-06) Venue: Woodlands
Referee: Joseph Corcoran (Fermanagh)


7 January 2018 (2018-01-07) Round 2 Tyrone 1-16 (19) – (14) 1-11 St. Mary's Coalisland  
2:15pm (HT: 1-07 – 1-05) Venue: Fr Peter Campbell Park
Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)


10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) Round 3 Cavan 0-07 (07) – (28) 2-22 Tyrone Cavan  
8:00pm (HT: 0-01 – 0-11) Venue: Breffni Park
Referee: Niall Cullen (Fermanagh)


10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) Round 3 Antrim 0-15 (15) – (20) 4-08 St. Mary's Belfast  
8:00pm (HT: 0-04 – 1-04) Venue: Woodlands
Referee: Paul Faloon (Down)


Section B

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PR Pts Qualification
1 Armagh 3 2 1 0 47 38 1.237 5 Advance to semi-final
2 Derry 3 2 0 1 50 52 0.962 4
3 Down 3 1 0 2 46 44 1.045 2
4 Ulster University 3 0 1 2 40 49 0.816 1
Updated to match(es) played on 14 January 2018. Source: Ulster GAA
3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) Round 1 Down 0-13 (13) – (18) 2-12 Armagh Newry  
8:00pm (HT: 0-05 – 0-09) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Sean Laverty (Antrim)


3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) Round 1 Derry 2-14 (20) – (19) 3-10 Ulster University Derry  
8:00pm (HT: 1-06 – 0-08) Venue: Celtic Park
Referee: Kieran Mooney (Down)


14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) Round 2 Armagh 1-15 (18) – (13) 0-13 Derry Armagh  
2:00pm (HT: 1-08 – 0-05) Venue: Athletic Grounds
Report Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)


Note: This game was originally scheduled to take place on 7 January, but was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) Round 2 Down 1-14 (17) – (09) 0-09 Ulster University Burren  
2:00pm Venue: St. Mary's Park
Referee: Karol Doherty (Antrim)


Note: This game was originally scheduled to take place on 7 January, but was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) Round 3 Derry 1-14 (17) – (16) 2-10 Down Derry  
8:00pm (HT: 0-08 – 2-07) Venue: Celtic Park
Report Referee: Anthony Marron (Monaghan)


10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) Round 3 Armagh 0-12 (12) – (12) 1-09 Ulster University Armagh  
8:00pm (HT: 0-04 – 1-06) Venue: Athletic Grounds
Referee: Conor Dourneen (Cavan)


Section C

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PR Pts Qualification
1 Fermanagh 3 3 0 0 46 37 1.243 6 Advance to semi-final
2 Donegal 3 2 0 1 63 41 1.537 4 Advance to semi-final (best runner-up)
3 Monaghan 3 1 0 2 50 53 0.943 2
4 Queen's University Belfast 3 0 0 3 25 53 0.472 0
Updated to match(es) played on 14 January 2018. Source: Ulster GAA
3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) Round 1 Donegal 2-15 (21) – (06) 0-06 Queen's University Belfast Ballybofey  
8:00pm (HT: 2-05 – 0-02) Venue: Páirc MacCumhaill
Referee: James Lewis (Fermanagh)


3 January 2018 (2018-01-03) Round 1 Fermanagh 2-11 (17) – (12) 0-12 Monaghan Enniskillen  
8:00pm (HT: 0-05 – 0-06) Venue: Brewster Park
Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)


7 January 2018 (2018-01-07) Round 2 Fermanagh 1-10 (13) – (12) 1-09 Queen's University Belfast Enniskillen  
2:15pm (HT: 0-06 – 1-04) Venue: Brewster Park
Referee: Stephen Campbell (Tyrone)


14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) Round 2 Monaghan 0-19 (19) – (29) 4-17 Donegal Clones  
2:00pm (HT: 0-10 – 2-09) Venue: St Tiernach's Park
Report Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)


10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) Round 3 Monaghan 2-13 (19) – (07) 0-07 Queen's University Belfast Castleblayney  
8:00pm (HT: 2-08 – 0-02) Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Pat Clarke (Cavan)


10 January 2018 (2018-01-10) Round 3 Donegal 1-10 (13) – (16) 1-13 Fermanagh Ballybofey  
8:00pm (HT: 1-05 – 0-05) Venue: Páirc MacCumhaill
Referee: Dan Mullan (Derry)


Ranking of second-placed teams

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L PF PA PR Pts Qualification
1 C Donegal 3 2 0 1 63 41 1.537 4 Advance to semi-final
2 B Derry 3 2 0 1 50 52 0.962 4
3 A St. Mary's 3 1 0 2 46 49 0.939 2
Updated to match(es) played on 14 January 2018. Source: Ulster GAA

Knock-out Stage

Semi-finals
14 January 2018 (2018-01-14) Semi-Final Fermanagh 0-04 (04) – (08) 0-08 Tyrone Enniskillen  
2:00pm (HT: 0-03 – 0-06) Venue: Brewster Park

Pts: Ryan Jones, Barry Mulrone, Aidan Breen, Seamus Quigley (f)		 Report
Pts: Darren McCurry (3, 3f), Conor McAliskey (2, 1f), Richard Donnelly, Declan McClure, Ronan O'Neill		 Referee: Ciaran Branagan (Down)


20 January 2018 (2018-01-20) Semi-Final Donegal 0-20 (20) – (13) 1-10 Armagh Derry  
6:00pm (HT: 0-09 – 1-06) Venue: Celtic Park

Pts: Patrick McBrearty (8, 3f), Darach O'Connor (3, 1f), Niall O’Donnell (3), Stephen McBrearty (3), Nathan Mullins (2), Ciarán Thompson		 Report Gls: Eamon McGeown
Pts: Eamon McGeown (3), Michael Stevenson (3, 1 '45), Stephen Sheridan, Edward English, Conor White, Oisin Mac Íomhair		 Referee: Niall McKenna (Monaghan)


Final
17 February 2018 (2018-02-17)
6:00pm
Final
Donegal 1-16 (19) – (15) 1-12 Tyrone
(HT: 1-09 – 1-06)
Gls: M McElhinney
Pts: N O'Donnell (3), M Murphy (3, 2f), M Reilly (2, 1f), D Ó Baoill (2), P Brennan (2), M McElhinney, F McGlynn, O MacNiallais, C Thompson		 Gls: H Loughran
Pts: R O'Neill (6, 5f), H Loughran, C McCarron, K McGeary, C McCann, D McClure, D McCurry
Athletic Grounds, Armagh
Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)
Attendance: 4,287

References
  1. "Bank of Ireland Renew Dr McKenna Cup Sponsorship". Ulster GAA. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  2. "2018 Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Draw". Ulster GAA. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  3. "Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup 2018". Ulster GAA. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  4. "McKenna Cup 2017 | Fermanagh GAA". Fermanagh GAA. 16 November 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
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