2023 All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship Explained

Type:	Under-20
Year:	2023
Dates:	25 March - 4 June 2023
Teams:	17
Munster:	Cork
Leinster:	Offaly
Ulster:	Antrim
Team:	Cork
Titles:	14th
Captain:	Micheál Mullins
Manager:	Ben O'Connor
Team2:	Offaly
Captain2:	Charlie Mitchell
Manager2:	Leo O'Connor
Matches:	38
Totalgoals:	104 (2.73 per game)
Totalpoints:	1293 (34.02 per game)
Topscorer:	Adam Screeney (2-59)
Previous:	2022
Next:	2024

The 2023 All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship was the fifth staging of the All-Ireland Under-20 Championship and the 60th staging overall of a hurling championship for players between the minor and senior grades. The championship ran from 25 March to 4 June 2023.

Kilkenny entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Wexford in the Leinster semi-final.^[1] ^[2] ^[3]

The final was played on 4 June 2023 at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, between Cork and Offaly, in what was their first ever championship meeting. Cork won the match by 2-22 to 3-13 to claim their 14th championship title overall and a first title in two years.^[4]

Offaly's Adam Screeney was the championship's top scorer with 2-59.

Leinster Under-20 Hurling Championship

Leinster tier 1

Tier 1 group table

width=20		width=150 style="text-align:left;"	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20	width=40	width=40	width=20	width=20
1	Kilkenny	3	2	0	1	79	74	5	4
2	Dublin	3	2	0	1	67	59	8	4
3	Galway	3	1	0	2	72	77	-5	2
4	Wexford	3	1	0	2	58	66	-8	2

Tier 1 group fixtures and results

Leinster tier 2

Tier 2 group 1 table

width=20		width=150 style="text-align:left;"	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20	width=40	width=40	width=20	width=20
1	Offaly	3	3	0	0	74	37	37	6
2	Westmeath	3	2	0	1	72	55	17	4
3	Antrim	3	1	0	2	60	52	8	2
4	Meath	3	0	0	3	28	90	-62	0

Tier 2 group 2 table

width=20		width=150 style="text-align:left;"	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20	width=40	width=40	width=20	width=20
1	Laois	3	3	0	0	56	26	30	6
2	Kildare	3	2	0	1	42	41	1	4
3	Kerry	3	1	0	1	46	57	-11	2
4	Carlow	3	0	0	2	35	68	-33	0

Tier 2 group 1 fixtures and results

Leinster final

Munster Under-20 Hurling Championship

Munster table

width=20		width=150 style="text-align:left;"	Team	width=20		width=20		width=20		width=20	width=40	width=40	width=20	width=20
1	Cork	4	4	0	0	100	81	19	8
2	Tipperary	4	2	1	1	95	89	6	5
3	Clare	4	1	2	1	96	87	9	4
4	Limerick	4	1	1	2	80	79	1	3
5	Waterford	4	0	0	4	73	108	-35	0

Munster final

All-Ireland Under-20 Hurling Championship

All-Ireland final

Championship statistics

Top scorers

Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Adam Screeney	Offaly	2-59	65	7	9.28
2	Ben Cunningham	Cork	2-54	60	6	10.00
3	David Williams	Westmeath	3-46	55	5	11.00
4	Keith Smyth	Clare	3-45	54	6	9.00
5	Cian Byrne	Wexford	1-46	49	6	8.16
6	Patrick O'Donovan	Limerick	0-38	38	4	9.50
7	Cillian Dunne	Laois	1-32	35	4	8.75
8	Jack Leamy	Tipperary	2-26	32	5	6.40
9	Patrick Fitzgerald	Waterford	1-26	29	3	9.66
Ronan Walsh	Kerry	1-26	29	3	9.66

In a single game

Rank	Player	Club	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Billy Drennan	Kilkenny	2-12	18	Galway
2	Ben Cunningham	Cork	1-13	16	Tipperary
3	Adam Screeney	Offaly	1-12	15	Wexford
4	Patrick Fitzgerald	Waterford	1-11	14	Limerick
	David Williams	Westmeath	0-14	14	Laois
	Cian Byrne	Wexford	0-14	14	Offaly
7	Keith Smyth	Clare	2-07	13	Tipperary
	Cillian Dunne	Laois	1-10	13	Westmeath
	Cillian Dunne	Laois	0-13	13	Carlow
10	Jack Leamy	Tipperary	2-06	12	Waterford

Miscellaneous

The Munster Championship game between Waterford and Limerick, scheduled for 22 March 2023, was postponed by three days due to an unplayable Fraher Field.^[5] Waterford's subsequent game against Clare was also postponed for a similar reason.^[6]
Cork's Munster Championship victory put them one ahead of Tipperary and top of the all-time roll of honour with 22 titles.
Offaly won the Leinster Championship for the first time since 2000.
The All-Ireland final between Cork and Offaly was their first ever championship meeting.

Notes and References

Web site: Drennan stars as Kilkenny claim All-Ireland U20 hurling final win over Limerick. 22 May 2022. The 42. 22 May 2022.
Web site: Kilkenny claim All-Ireland U-20 title after edging Limerick in thrilling final. 22 May 2022. Irish Independent. 22 May 2022.
Web site: Wexford end Kilkenny’s U20 Leinster hurling reign as Model County reaches final. 10 May 2023. Irish Independent. 17 May 2023.
Web site: Cork v Offaly: All-Ireland U20 hurling glory for Rebels. 4 June 2023. Echo Live. 5 June 2023.
Web site: Munster U20 hurling opener postponed due to unplayable pitch at Fraher Field. 22 March 2023. Irish Examiner. 22 March 2023. Shane. Donovan.
Web site: Afternoon deluge forced late postponement of Waterford-Clare clash, says Munster GAA. 12 April 2023. Irish Examiner. 12 April 2023. Eoghan. Cormican.