Cork Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship

Cork Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Evening Echo Cork County Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship, is an annual hurling competition organised by the Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1973 for the top tier under-21 hurling teams in the county of Cork in Ireland.

Cork Premier Under-21 A Hurling Championship
Code	Hurling
Founded	1973; 51 years ago (1973)
Region	Cork (GAA)
Trophy	Dick Barrett Cup
No. of teams	22
Title holders	Sarsfields (4th title)
First winner	Newtownshandrum
Most titles	Midleton (6 titles)
Sponsors	Evening Echo
Official website	Official website

The series of games are played from the summer to the winter months with the county final typically being played at Páirc Uí Rinn. The prize for the winning team is the Dick Barrett Cup. The championship uses a double elimination format whereby each team is guaranteed at least two games.

As of 2019, 22 clubs were participating in the Premier Under-21 Championship. The title has been won at least once by 16 different clubs. The all-time record-holders are Midleton, who have won six championship titles.

Fr. O'Neill's were the 2018 title-holders, having defeated Midleton GAA by 3-24 to 4-18 (AET) in the 2018 final.

History

Beginnings

The All-Ireland Under-21 Hurling Championship at inter-county level was created in 1964 and had proved successful in bridging the gap between the minor and senior grades. In 1973, the Cork County Board developed their own under-21 championship. It was the fifth county championship to be created in Cork, after the senior, intermediate, junior and minor championships.^{[citation needed]}

Team dominance

Due to the limited time frame that players compete in the grade, it has been difficult for individual clubs to dominate the championship.^{[original research?]} In spite of this, several clubs have had limited dominance over the years. Between 1990 and 1994 St. Finbarr's dominated the championship with much of the same team by winning four championships in five seasons. Newtownshandrum ended the century by winning three successive championships between 1998 and 2000. The first decade of the new century saw Erin's Own win three championships between 2002 and 2005. Blackrock had a sustained period of dominance by winning three championships from five successive final appearances between 2012 and 2016.^{[citation needed]}

Formats used

From 1973 until 2015, the championship used a divisional format. The seven respective champions from Avondhu, Carbery, Carrigdhoun, Duhallow, Imokilly, Muskerry and Seandún contested the county championship. That county-wide championship used a single elimination format whereby once a team lost they were eliminated. In 2016, the under-21 championship underwent a major restructuring whereby the divisional system for the top tier was abolished and the strongest 22 clubs entered a new countywide championship.^{[citation needed]}

Sponsorship

Since 2005 the Premier Under-21 Championship has been sponsored by the Evening Echo. The competition was previously sponsored by TSB Bank.

Roll of honour

#	Team	Wins	Years won	Runner-up	Years runner-up
1	Midleton	6	1979, 1983, 1988, 1989, 2011, 2013	5	1978, 1980, 1987, 1990, 1991
2	Glen Rovers	5	1974, 1984, 1995, 2001, 2008	2	2000, 2004
	Blackrock	5	1976, 1977, 2012, 2014, 2015	2	2013, 2016
	Newtownshandrum	5	1973, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2010	1	2006
	St. Finbarr's	5	1985, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994	1	1997
3	Na Piarsaigh	3	1980, 1981, 1987	3	1996, 1998, 2002
	Erin's Own	3	2002, 2004, 2005	1	1999
	Sarsfield's	3	1975, 2003, 2017	1	1974
4	Duhallow	2	1982, 2009	5	2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015
	Bishopstown	2	2006, 2007	0
5	Milford	1	1978	3	1977, 1979, 1982
	Newcestown	1	1993	1	1992
	Ballincollig	1	1996	1	1995
	Douglas	1	2016	1	2005
	Fermoy	1	1986	0
	Courcey Rovers	1	1997	0
	Bandon	0		2	1975, 1976
	Cloughduv	0		2	1983, 1989
	Valley Rovers	0		2	1985, 2003
	Carrigtwohill	0		2	1993, 2001
	Carrigaline	0		2	2007, 2014
	Éire Óg	0		1	1973
	Ballyhea	0		1	1981
	Tracton	0		1	1984
	Blarney	0		1	1986
	Inniscarra	0		1	1988
	Mallow	0		1	1994
	Ballinhassig	0		1	2009
	Killeagh/Ita's	0		1	2017

List of finals

Year	Winner	Opponent
1973	Newtownshandrum	Éire Óg
1974	Glen Rovers 3-10	Sarsfields 4-6
1975	Sarsfields 6-3	Bandon 1-7
1976	Blackrock 4-8	Bandon 0-10
1977	Blackrock	Milford
1978	Milford 3-12	Midleton 1-9
1979	Midleton 3-11	Milford 2-4
1980	Na Piarsaigh 5-13	Midleton 1-6
1981	Na Piarsaigh 2-12	Ballyhea 3-3
1982	Duhallow 3-5	Milford 2-6
1983	Midleton 0-16	Cloughduv 0-6
1984	Glen Rovers 1-14	Tracton 2-9
1985	St. Finbarr's 1-10	Valley Rovers 0-10
1986	Fermoy 1-10	Blarney 0-9
1987	Na Piarsaigh 2-10	Midleton 1-5
1988	Midleton 4-9	Inniscarra 1-15
1989	Midleton 5-9	Cloughduv 2-5
1990	St. Finbarr's 1-10	Midleton 2-2
1991	St. Finbarr's 3-11	Midleton 1-8
1992	St. Finbarr's 0-9 1-9	Newcestown 1-6 1-5
1993	Newcestown 1-8	Carrigtwohill 0-7
1994	St. Finbarr's	Mallow
1995	Glen Rovers 2-14	Ballincollig 1-14
1996	Ballincollig 2-8	Na Piarsaigh 1-8
1997	Courcey Rovers 3-10	St. Finbarr's 1-7
1998	Newtownshandrum 1-12	Na Piarsaigh 0-7
1999	Newtownshandrum 1-13	Erin's Own 1-7
2000	Newtownshandrum 1-17	Glen Rovers 1-7
2001	Glen Rovers 2-9	Carrigtwohill 2-6
2002	Erin's Own 1-14	Na Piarsaigh 1-7
2003	Sarsfields	Valley Rovers
2004	Erin's Own 2-8	Glen Rovers 0-8
2005	Erin's Own 0-13	Douglas 0-10
2006	Bishopstown 1-09	Newtownshandrum 1-08
2007	Bishopstown 2-13	Carrigaline 0-11
2008	Glen Rovers	Duhallow
2009	Duhallow 0-18	Ballinhassig 1-05
2010	Newtownshandrum 1-19	Duhallow 1-16
2011	Midleton 1-11	Duhallow 2-08
2012[1]	Blackrock 4-16	Duhallow 2-10
2013	Midleton 4-13	Blackrock 3-12
2014	Blackrock 5-13	Carrigaline 4-10
2015[2]	Blackrock 1-21	Duhallow 0-08
2016	Douglas 1-18	Blackrock 1-15
2017	Sarsfields 0-20	Killeagh/Ita's 1-09
2018	Fr. O'Neill's 3-24	Midleton 4-18
2019	Sarsfields 2-17	Midleton 0-22

Premier 2 Under-21 Hurling Championship

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Score
2018	Ballincollig	0-19	Courcey Rovers	0-17
2019	St. Finbarr's	2-11	Bride Rovers	2-10

Under-21 A Hurling Championship

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Score
2016	Erin's Own	3-24	Ballincollig	1-16
2017	Inniscarra	1-18	Fermoy	1-11
2018	Bride Rovers	1-14	Cloughduv	1-10
2019	Fermoy	1-17	Newcestown	1-15

Under-21 B Hurling Championship

This competition is confined to clubs who compete at the B level in each of the regional divisions in County Cork. The winners are presented with the Gene Fitzgerald Cup. This cup commemorates Gene Fitzgerald, the former politician who also had administrative positions with Cork GAA County Board.

Year	Winner	Score	Opponent	Score
2010	Castlelyons		Ballinascarthy
2011	St. Catherine's		Ballygarvan
2012	Dungourney	2-08	Nemo Rangers	1-06
2013[3]	Ballinascarthy	2-07	Watergrasshill	0-09
2014[4]	Killeagh/St. Ita's	6-14	Clonakilty	0-08
2015[5]	Watergrasshill	0-14	Kilworth	1-08
2016
2017	Kilshannig	2-18	Sarsfields	2-11
2018	Sarsfields	3-14	Kildorrery	0-20
2019	Castlemartyr	0-15	Killavullen	1-07

References

1. Hurley, Denis (22 October 2012). "Ryan goals keep resurgent Rockies on roll". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
2. O'Callaghan, Theresa (14 November 2015). "Brilliant Blackrock sweep aside anxious Duhallow". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
3. "Tenacious Bal deserved their victory in U21 final". The Southern Star. 29 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
4. "Killeagh v Clon, U21". The Southern Star. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
5. "Glory for Watergrasshill after hard-earned win". Irish Examiner. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.

Sources

• Cork Under-21 Hurling Final results
• Cork GAA - A History 1886-1986 Jim Cronin