Harty Cup rule change means Nenagh CBS didn't top group after all

A recently changed rule means two schools swap positions in the final group standings published earlier this week.

Diarmuid Fogarty, St Joseph's CBS Nenagh in possession against Tudor Meracre, Cashel Community School in the Harty Cup

A recently changed rule has taken some schools — and the Irish Examiner — by surprise in this year’s Dr Harty Cup, with two schools swapping positions in the final group standings published earlier this week.

Nenagh CBS initially thought they had topped Group 1 of the competition, securing a seeding in the quarter-final draw, when they finished ahead of St Flannan’s on score difference. The schools were level on points, with two wins apiece and a draw in their meeting.

Nenagh had clearly targeted top spot in their final group clash with Cashel CS, going for goals early in an eventual 31-point 7-18 to 0-8 win.

However, a rule changed in recent years meant Flannan’s still topped the group, having scored more goals than Nenagh in their 2-18 to 1-21 October draw at the TUS Midwest campus.

The head-to-head result between tied teams is the first means of separating sides that finish level on points. And if that game is a draw, the team who scored most goals in the fixture now gets the nod.

Munster GAA Post-Primary Schools officer Eoin Ryan confirmed the change was made across the grades because matches where walkovers had been given were skewing score difference ranking in some cases.

The rule doesn’t affect qualification in this case. Both St Flannan’s and Nenagh progress to the quarter-final draw, with Flannan’s seeded in Pot 1 and avoiding the other group winners in the last eight.

Overall score difference is still used to rank teams if the head-to-head scoring criteria can't separate them. So if Nenagh and Flannan's had scored the same number of goals in their clash, Nenagh's higher overall score difference would have been the deciding factor.