Eammon Kelly: Christy Ring Cup offers easier Leinster path

Offaly manager Eamonn Kelly, who led Kerry to a Christy Ring Cup title last year, says reaching a Leinster quarter-final will be easier via the second tier competition than the province’s qualifying group from 2017.

An Antrim motion calling for the Christy Ring Cup winners from next year to be given the reward of a Leinster quarter-final was passed by Congress in Carlow on Saturday. Another team is now likely to drop into the qualifying group to accommodate the change, meaning it will be the top two from five counties, not four, that will reach the Leinster quarter-finals.

Before stepping down from Kerry last season, Kelly guided them to a Christy Ring Cup title, which saw them enter the Liam MacCarthy Cup with a place in the qualifying group.