All Ireland ‘B’ Hurling Championship - 1 of 2

Did you know ?...... 

1. The All Ireland ‘B’ hurling championship, for second tier hurling counties, started in 1974.
2. The inaugural winning team was Kildare, who defeated Antrim 1-26 to 3-13 at Croke Park on 23^rd June 1974.
3. Kildare won two further ‘B’ championship finals in the eighties. In 1980 the Lillies defeated London 2-20 to 2-14 and in 1989 they defeated the same opposition 2-06 to 1-07.
4. The ‘B’ championship continued until 2004 when it was replaced by the Christy Ring Cup. There was no competition in the years 1997 to 2001.
5. In the twenty six years of playing the competition, London lead the table of most victories with a total of five. They were also beaten finalists on 15 occasions, including nine in a row between 1975 and 1984.
6. Kildare are second in order of number of victories with a total of four. In addition to the above three, the Lillies captured the title on 22^nd July 2004, defeating Mayo 3-14 to 3-07 in the final at Croke Park. Thus Kildare hold the distinction of winning the first and final playing of this competition.
7. Naas Club members played a significant role in the 2004 victory as the picture of the day (above) shows. Manager of the team was Morgan Lawlor (on left) with players (L-R) John Brennan, Neil Swan, Eamonn Denieffe and Paddy Brennan. Both John and Eamonn made scoring contributions on the day