2019 Down Senior Football Championship

2019 Down Senior Football Championship
Tournament details
CountyDown
ProvinceUlster
Year2019
TrophyFrank O'Hare Cup
SponsorMorgan Fuels
Teams16
Defending championsSt. Mary's Burren
Winners
ChampionsKilcoo (17th Title)
Qualify forUlster Club SFC
Promotion/Relegation
Relegated team(s)An Ríocht
Saval
← 2018
2020 →

The 2019 Down Senior Football Championship was the 111th official edition of Down GAA's premier Gaelic Football tournament for senior clubs in County Down. 16 teams competed with the winner representing Down in the Ulster Senior Club Football Championship. The tournament operated a double elimination format for the opening two rounds of the championship, with the winners and early round losers rejoining at the quarter-final stage.

Bredagh made their return to the senior grade after claiming the Down I.F.C. title in 2018.

St. Mary's Burren were the holders after they ended Kilcoo's run of six titles in a row, defeating the then defending champions on a scoreline of 2–12 to 2–09 in the 2018 final.[1] They were unable to defend their title however, as they were eliminated in the quarter-final, losing to last year's finalists Kilcoo after a replay.[2][3]

An Ríocht and Saval were relegated to the 2020 I.F.C. after finishing outside the top 15 ranked teams in the Down football leagues for 2018. They finished 5th and 8th (ranked 16th and 19th overall) in Division 2 respectively. Glenn John Martin's and Darragh Cross will replace them after they claimed the 2019 I.F.C. title and finished 4th (ranked 15th overall) in Division 2 respectively.

Team Changes

[4][5]

The following teams have changed division since the 2018 championship season.

Participating teams

The following teams took part in the 2019 edition of the Down Senior Football Championship.[6]

Round 1

The 16 participating teams were placed into an open draw. Winning sides moved to Round 2A while losing sides went into Round 2B.

8 August 2019 Round 1 Clonduff 5–09 3–06 Saval Newry  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Brendan Rice


9 August 2019 Round 1 Carryduff 1–12 0–11 Castlewellan Newcastle  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Patrick's Park
Referee: Ronan Barry


9 August 2019 Round 1 Kilcoo 1–11 0–05 An Riocht Burren  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Ciaran Mooney


10 August 2019 Round 1 Longstone 1–15 0–23 Loughinisland Castlewellan  
15:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Malachy's Park
Referee: Gavin Finnegan


11 August 2019 Round 1 Warrenpoint 2–07 0–11 Ballyholland Harps Newry  
18:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Con Reynolds


11 August 2019 Round 1 Burren 0–19 2–14
(a.e.t.)
Mayobridge Newry  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Ciarán Branagan


12 August 2019 Round 1 Rostrevor 2–06 0–08 RGU Downpatrick Hilltown  
19:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Clonduff Park
Referee: Darren O'Hare


12 August 2019[a] Round 1 Bryansford 0–12 2–10 Bredagh Kilcoo  
19:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Eoghan Rua
Referee: Oliver Burke


a Game was originally scheduled for 10 August, but was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. The game was moved to 12 August.

Round 2

Round 2A

Round 2A featured the eight winning sides from Round 1, with an open draw to determine the fixtures. The winning sides progress directly to the quarter-final, with the losing sides moving into Round 3.

23 August 2019 Round 2A Bredagh 0–11 1–10 Carryduff Liatroim  
19:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Fontenoy Park
Referee: Paul Faloon


24 August 2019 Round 2A Mayobridge 2–16 1–18
(a.e.t.)
Loughinisland Castlewellan  
15:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Malachy's Park
Referee: Brendan Rice


25 August 2019 Round 2A Warrenpoint 0–19 1–10 Clonduff Mayobridge  
18:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Patrick's Park
Referee: Ronan Barry


26 August 2019 Round 2A Kilcoo 1–12 0–12 Rostrevor Newry  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Con Reynolds


Round 2B

Round 2B saw the eight losing sides from Round 1 compete for a place in Round 3. The losing sides from this round were eliminated from the competition.

22 August 2019 Round 2B Longstone 2–15 2–10 Saval Newry  
18:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Declan Ryan


22 August 2019 Round 2B Ballyholland Harps 0–13 0–06 An Riocht Newry  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Ciarán Branagan


23 August 2019 Round 2B Castlewellan 0–10 0–13
(a.e.t.)
Burren Hilltown  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Clonduff Park
Referee: Brian Higgins


24 August 2019 Round 2B RGU Downpatrick 2–09 1–13 Bryansford Kilcoo  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Eoghan Rua
Referee: Ciaran Mooney


Round 3

Round 3 is a supplementary round for teams to have a second chance at reaching the quarter-final. This round features teams that have lost once so far in this year's Championship, either winning in Round 1 and losing in Round 2A, or losing in Round 1 but winning their Round 2B fixture. Losing sides in this round are eliminated from this year's competition.

This round is seeded, meaning in each fixture a Round 2A losing side will face a Round 2B winning side.

30 August 2019 Round 3 Clonduff 3–14 1–12 Bryansford Newry  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Adrian Sharvin


30 August 2019 Round 3 Loughinisland 0–08 0–09 Ballyholland Harps Tullylish  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc na nÓg
Referee: Ronan Barry


2 September 2019 Round 3 Bredagh 1–08 2–07 Longstone Kilcoo  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Eoghan Rua
Referee: Ciarán Branagan


2 September 2019 Round 3 Rostrevor 1–12 3–12 Burren Hilltown  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Clonduff Park
Referee: Paul Faloon


Quarter-final

The quarter final sees the two brackets rejoin, with the earlier Round 2A winners facing a Round 3 winner for a Semi-final spot.

15 September 2019 Quarter-final Carryduff 2–07 0–15 Clonduff Newcastle  
15:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Patrick's Park
Referee: Paul Faloon


15 September 2019 Quarter-final Warrenpoint 3–10 1–04 Longstone Burren  
17:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Ciaran Mooney


15 September 2019 Quarter-final Mayobridge 1–08 0–12 Ballyholland Harps Burren  
19:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: St Mary's Park
Referee: Con Reynolds


16 September 2019 Quarter-final Kilcoo 1–12 2–09 Burren Newry  
20:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Ronan Barry


21 September 2019 Quarter-final Replay Kilcoo 2–12 2–09 Burren Newry  
19:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Report Referee: Adrian Sharvin


Semi-final

The semi final will see the four winning sides face off for a place in this year's final. This round is an open draw from the four Quarter-final winners.

27 September 2019 Semi-final Ballyholland Harps 0–04 2–15 Warrenpoint Newry  
19:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Paul Faloon


28 September 2019 Semi-final Clonduff 2–03 0–12 Kilcoo Newry  
19:30 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Ciaran Mooney


Final

The final was played between the two Semi-final winners, and took place at Páirc Esler, Newry.

Warrenpoint booked their place in their first final in 41 years, while in stark contrast their opponents Kilcoo had qualified for their 8th consecutive final. The teams have met one time before in the final, that was back in 1948 where Warrenpoint won the second of their three previous titles.

13 October 2019 Final Warrenpoint 0–14 1–12 Kilcoo Newry  
16:00 IST (UTC+1) Venue: Páirc Esler
Referee: Adrian Sharvin


References

  1. ^ "Down SFC final: Burren deny Kilcoo a seventh straight title". irishtimes.com. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Weekend GAA Results". bbc.co.uk. 21 September 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
  3. ^ "Kilcoo beat Down holders Burren in quarter-final replay". bbc.co.uk. 22 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Down Recorder Archives". Irishnewsarchive.com. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Down HoganStand". Hoganstand.com. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  6. ^ "2019 Down GAA Senior Football Championship". downgaa.net. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.