The 2018 Inter-County Under 20 Football Championship was the 55th edition of the competition, and the first since the competition was re-graded from Under 21 to Under 20. It was sponsored by Eirgrid, and known as the EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Championship for sponsorship purposes. 31 counties played in the tournament (Kilkenny did not participate). The competition began with a preliminary round game in Ulster on 25 May 2018, and ended with the final on 5 August 2018.
Competition format
Player eligibility
Players under 20 years of age cannot play for a county's senior and under-20 championship teams. This rule was introduced to prevent player burnout and to allow the senior and under-20 championships to be scheduled in the same summer months with separate panels of players. If an under-20 player plays for a county's senior championship team, he is ineligible to play for their under-20 team.
This rule results in some county under-20 county teams playing without their best under-20 footballers. For example, Sean O'Shea and David Clifford played for the Kerry senior championship team in 2018 and therefore were not allowed to play for the Kerry under-20 team which meant that the under-20 team was weakened.
Provincial Championships format
Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster each organise a provincial championship. Each province decides the format for their championship – the format can be straight knockout, double-elimination, a league, groups, etc. or a combination.
All-Ireland format
The four provincial winners meet in two semi-finals, with the winners of those matches playing in the All-Ireland Under-20 Football Championship Final.
Updated to match(es) played on 4 June 2018. Source: Leinster GAA Rules for classification: 1) League points 2) Where only two teams are involved, the outcome of the meeting of the two teams in the competition 3) Scoring Difference 4) Highest Total Score For 5) A Play-Off.
Sean Bugler 1-4, James Doran 0-4 (0-1f), James Madden 1-0, Cormac Howley, Tom Keane (0-1f), Dan O'Brien 0-2 each, Sean Farrelly and Ciaran Archer (0-1f) 0-1 each
Ivan Meegan 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-2f), Kyle Firman 0-4, Barry O'Connor 1-1, Robbie Brooks 1-0, Sean Nolan (0-2f) and Jamie Meyler 0-2 each, Mikey Dwyer and Cathal Devereux 0-1 each
Updated to match(es) played on 4 June 2018. Source: Leinster GAA Rules for classification: 1) League points 2) Where only two teams are involved, the outcome of the meeting of the two teams in the competition 3) Scoring Difference 4) Highest Total Score For 5) A Play-Off.
Sean Reilly 2-3, Darragh Campion and Conor Moriarty (0-1f) 1-2 each, Frank O'Reilly 1-1 (1-0 pen), Sean Ryan 1-0, Jordan Morris 0-4 (0-2f), Shane McDonnell 0-2, Adam Murphy and Conor O'Byrne (0-1f) 0-1 each
Updated to match(es) played on 4 June 2018. Source: Leinster GAA Rules for classification: 1) League points 2) Where only two teams are involved, the outcome of the meeting of the two teams in the competition 3) Scoring Difference 4) Highest Total Score For 5) A Play-Off.
Aaron Masterson 1-2, Jimmy Hyland 0-5 (0-2f), Paddy Woodgate (0-1f), Shane O'Sullivan, Niall Murphy 1-1 each, Padraig Nash 0-3 (0-1f), DJ Early (0-1f, 1 '45) and Sam Doran 0-2 each, Darragh Ryan and Jack Barrett (0-1f) 0-1 each
Brian McLoughlin 2-2, Padraig Nash and Jimmy Hyland (0-1f) 0-3 each, Paddy Woodgate 1-0, Stephen Comerford, Ruadhán Ó’Giolláin, Aaron Masterson, Tony Archbold, Cian Costigan, Niall Murphy 0-1 each
Fiachra Clifford 0-7 (0-3f), David Shaw 1-4 (0-1f), Donal O'Sullivan 0-6 (0-2f), Bryan Sweeney 0-4, Cormac Linnane and Brian Friel 0-3 each, Daniel O’Brien, Diarmuid O'Connor, Patrick Warren 0-1 each
Chris Og Jones 0-6 (0-1f, 2 '45), Matthew Bradley 0-4 (0-2f), Cillian Myers-Murray 1-1, Sean Walsh 0-3, Tadhg Corkery and Damien Gore 0-2 each, Aidan Browne and Cathal Maguire 0-1 each
Pts: Chris Og Jones (7, 3f), Colm O'Callaghan (2), Mark Keane (2), Tadhg Corkery, Colm Barrett, Damien Gore
Gls: Mark Ryan (pen), David Shaw, Eddie Horan Pts: Donal O'Sullivan (4, 2f), Fiachra Clifford (2, 1f), Cormac Linnane (2), Sean O'Leary (2), Graham O'Sullivan
The Ulster championship is organised on a random draw. All matches are straight knockout. The winners receive the Danny Murphy Cup which was commissioned in 2018 in honour of the former Ulster Chief Executive Officer and Secretary.[1]
Note:A brawl occurred in the first period of extra time (two ten minutes played each way). The Central Competitions Control Committee imposed a suspension on ten Armagh players and seven Tyrone players. Armagh appealed the suspensions and eight of their ten players were cleared on the Friday before the final.
Gls: Paul Lambert, Ryan O’Donoghue Pts: Ross Egan (5, 5f), Tommy Conroy (2), Oisin McLaughlin (2), John Gallagher (2), Paul Lambert, Evan O’Brien, Conor Diskin.
