The 2020 Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship was the inaugural staging of the Cork Premier Senior Hurling Championship and the 132nd staging overall of a championship for the top-ranking hurling teams in Cork. The draw for the group stage placings took place on 19 November 2019. The championship was scheduled to begin on 17 April 2020, however, it was postponed indefinitely due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Gaelic games. The championship began on 31 July 2020 and ended on 4 October 2020.
Imokilly were the defending champions, however, they failed to qualify for the knockout stage after being beaten by University College Cork in the divisional final. Ballyhea were relegated from the championship after being beaten in a playoff by Bishopstown.
The final was played on 4 October 2020 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, between Blackrock and Glen Rovers, in what was their first meeting in a final in 42 years. Blackrock won the match by 4–26 to 4-18 - the first ever to be settled in extra time - to claim their 33rd championship title overall and a first title since 2002.
Blackrock's Alan Connolly was the championship's top scorer with 5-52.
Format change
On 26 March 2019, three championship proposals were circulated to Cork club delegates. A core element running through all three proposals, put together by the Cork GAA games workgroup, was that there be a group stage of 12 teams followed by a knock-out stage, straight relegation and one team from the divisions/colleges section to enter at the preliminary quarter-final stage. On 2 April 2019, a majority of 136 club delegates voted for Option A which would limit the number of participating club teams to 12 and see one round of games played in April and two more in August – all with county players available.
The championship was scheduled to begin in April 2020, however, it was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic in Ireland. When the championship resumed, time constraints led to a revision of the format, with the play-offs for the second best and third best third placed teams being abolished. The knockout stage was further reduced, with the best-ranking team from the group stage receiving a bye to the semi-finals and the other five qualifying teams joining the divisional/colleges section winner in contesting three quarter-finals.
Team changes
From Championship Regraded to the Cork Senior A Hurling Championship
Ballymartle Bandon Bride Rovers Charleville Kanturk Killeagh Newcestown
Participating teams Clubs
The club rankings were based on a championship performance 'points' system over the previous four seasons.
Team Location Colours Seeding RankingGlen RoversBlackpoolGreen, black and yellowA1MidletonMidletonBlack and whiteA2BlackrockBlackrockGreen and yellowA3Erin's OwnGlounthauneBlue and redB4SarsfieldsGlanmireBlue, black and whiteB5St. Finbarr'sTogherBlue and yellowB6DouglasDouglasGreen, white and blackC7Na PiarsaighFarranreeBlack and yellowC8BishopstownBishopstownMaroon and whiteC9NewtownshandrumNewtownshandrumGreen and yellowD10CarrigtwohillCarrigtwohillBlue and goldD11BallyheaBallyheaBlack and whiteD12
Divisions and colleges
Team Location ColoursDuhallowDuhallowOrange and blackImokillyEast CorkRed and whiteUniversity College CorkCollege RoadRed and black
Results Group 1 Table
TeamMatchesScorePtsPldWDLForAgainstDiffSarsfields33008-623-54236Douglas32011-616-4424Midleton31026-583-52152Ballyhea30033-396-70-400
Results
Group 2 Table
TeamMatchesScorePtsPldWDLForAgainstDiffBlackrock33008-574-44256Erin's Own31115-434-48-23Newtownshandrum31113-535-56-93Bishopstown30032-475-52-140
Results
Group 3 Table
TeamMatchesScorePtsPldWDLForAgainstDiffGlen Rovers33006-591-43316Na Piarsaigh31113-523-55-33St. Finbarr's31023-585-53-12Carrigtwohill30122-435-61-271
Results
Divisional/colleges sections Semi-final
Final
Relegation playoff
Knock-out stage Bracket
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Championship statistics Top scorers
Overall
Rank Player Club Tally Total Matches Average1Alan ConnollyBlackrock5-5267611.162Patrick HorganGlen Rovers2-5561512.203Conor LehaneMidleton3-3039313.004Liam HealySarsfields2-303649.00Shane KingstonDouglas0-363649.005Pa O'CallaghanBallyhea1-313448.50Shane ConwayUCC0-343448.506Evan SheehanNa Piarsaigh0-333348.25Eoghan MurphyErin's Own0-333356.607Jamie CoughlanNewtownshandrum3-202939.66
In a single game
Rank Player Club Tally Total Opposition1Conor LehaneMidleton3-1120Ballyhea2Alan ConnollyBlackrock1-1114NewtownshandrumPatrick HorganGlen Rovers1-1114BlackrockShane ConwayUCC0-1414BlackrockPatrick HorganGlen Rovers0-1414Erin's Own3Pa O'CallaghanBallyhea1-1013SarsfieldsAlan ConnollyBlackrock0-1313BlackrockPatrick HorganGlen Rovers0-1313Na Piarsaigh4Jamie CoughlanNewtownshandrum2-0612BlackrockPatrick HorganGlen Rovers1-0912St. Finbarr'sAlan ConnollyBlackrock1-0912Erin's OwnShane KingstonDouglas0-1212Sarsfields
Match records
Widest winning margin: 25 points St. Finbarr's 3-26 - 0-10 Carrigtwohill (Group Stage Round 3) Most goals in a match: 8 Blackrock 4-26 - 4-18 Glen Rovers (Final) Most points in a match: 60 Blackrock 3-26 - 0-34 University College Cork (Semi-final) Most goals by one team in a match: 4 Midleton 4-23 - 1-13 Ballyhea (Group Stage Round 2) Sarsfields 4-15 - 1-22 Douglas (Group Stage Round 2) Blackrock 4-15 - 0-18 Bishopstown (Group Stage Round 3) Blackrock 4-26 - 4-18 Glen Rovers (Final) Most goals scored by a losing team: 4 Glen Rovers 4-18 - 4-26 Blackrock (Final) Most points scored by a losing team: 34 University College Cork 0-34 - 3-26 Blackrock (Semi-final)
Miscellaneous
On 8 August 2020, Patrick Horgan from the Glen Rovers club became the first player to surpass the cumulative total of 600 points. On 12 September 2020, Eoghan Murphy from the Erin's Own club became only the second player ever to surpass the cumulative total of 500 points. Blackrock and Glen Rovers met each other in the final for the first time since 1978. It was the first all city final since 1982. It was the first final not to feature an East Cork team since 2003 Blackrock win the title for the first time since 2002.
References
External links Cork GAA website