2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
# 2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 2002 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship (known as the Guinness Hurling Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th staging of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The draws for the respective provincial championships took place on 27 October 2001. The championship ran from 27 April to 8 September 2002.

Tipperary entered the championship as the defending champions, however, they were beaten by Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final.

The All-Ireland final was played on 8 September 2002 at Croke Park in Dublin, between Kilkenny and Clare, in what was their fourth championship meeting overall but their first All-Ireland final meeting in 70 years. Kilkenny won the match by 2-20 to 0-19 to claim their 27th All-Ireland title overall and a first title in two years.

Tipperary's Eoin Kelly was the championship's top scorer with 2-39.

## Teams

### General information

Twenty one counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: one team in the Connacht Senior Hurling Championship, ten teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship, five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Ulster Senior Hurling Championship.

| County | Last provincial title | Last championship title | Position in 2001 Championship |
| - | - | - | - |
| Antrim | 1999 | - | Semi-finals (Ulster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Carlow | - | - | Second preliminary round (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Clare | 1998 | 1997 | Semi-finals (Munster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Cork | 2000 | 1999 | Quarter-finals (Munster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Derry | 2001 | - | Quarter-finals |
| Down | 1997 | - | Runners-up (Ulster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Dublin | 1961 | 1938 | Quarter-finals (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Galway | 1999 | 1988 | Runners-up |
| Kildare | - | - | Second preliminary round (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Kilkenny | 2001 | 2000 | Semi-finals |
| Laois | 1949 | 1915 | Semi-finals (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Limerick | 1996 | 1973 | Quarter-finals |
| London | - | 1901 | Semi-finals (Ulster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Meath | - | - | First round (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| New York | - | - | Quarter-finals (Ulster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Offaly | 1995 | 1998 | Semi-finals (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Tipperary | 2001 | 2001 | Champions |
| Waterford | 1963 | 1959 | Semi-finals (Munster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Westmeath | - | - | First preliminary round (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |
| Wexford | 1997 | 1996 | Semi-finals |
| Wicklow | - | - | First preliminary round (Leinster Senior Hurling Championship) |

### All-Ireland final

The new Qualifier system threw up an interesting pairing in the All-Ireland final. It was the Leinster champions Kilkenny versus Clare, who were knocked out of the provincial championship in the very first round. Kilkenny had the upper hand for the whole game as D.J. Carey and Henry Shefflin scored goals for Kilkenny. Clare narrowed Kilkenny's lead in the second half, however, they missed two goal chances. Kilkenny won the title for the 27th time.

## All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

| Quarter-finals July 28 | Quarter-finals July 28 | Quarter-finals July 28 | Semi-finals August 11 / August 18 | Semi-finals August 11 / August 18 | Semi-finals August 11 / August 18 | Final September 8 | Final September 8 | Final September 8 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| * | Kilkenny | | | | | | | |
| | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 1-20 | | | |
| | | | Tipperary | Tipperary | 1-16 | | | |
| | Tipperary | 1-25 | Tipperary | Tipperary | 1-16 | | | |
| * | Antrim | 2-12 | | | | | | |
| * | Antrim | 2-12 | | | | Kilkenny | Kilkenny | 2-20 |
| | | | | | | Clare | Clare | 0-19 |
| | Clare | 1-15 | | | | | | | Clare | Clare | 0-19 |
| * | Galway | 0-17 | | | | | | |
| * | Galway | 0-17 | Clare | Clare | 1-16 | | | |
| | | | Waterford | Waterford | 1-13 | | | |
| * | Waterford | | Waterford | Waterford | 1-13 | | | |

Note: * = Provincial Champion

## Championship statistics

### Top scorers

**Overall**

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Matches | Average |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Eoin Kelly | Tipperary | 2-39 | 45 | 6 | 7.50 |
| 2 | Henry Shefflin | Kilkenny | 1-33 | 36 | 4 | 9.00 |
| 3 | Nicky Horan | Meath | 4-20 | 32 | 4 | 8.00 |
| 4 | Liam Watson | Antrim | 4-17 | 29 | 3 | 9.66 |
| 5 | Paul Flynn | Waterford | 2-22 | 28 | 3 | 9.33 |
| 6 | Paul Codd | Wexford | 2-20 | 26 | 3 | 8.66 |
| 7 | Paul Braniff | Down | 1-19 | 22 | 5 | 4.40 |
| 8 | Niall Gilligan | Clare | 3-12 | 21 | 6 | 3.50 |
| 9 | Kevin Flynn | Dublin | 1-17 | 20 | 4 | 5.00 |
| 10 | Seánie McMahon | Clare | 0-17 | 17 | 6 | 2.83 |
| 10 | Jamesie O'Connor | Clare | 0-17 | 17 | 6 | 2.83 |

**In a single game**

| Rank | Player | County | Tally | Total | Opposition |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Nicky Horan | Meath | 1-11 | 14 | Laois |
| 2 | Aidan Delargy | Antrim | 2-07 | 13 | New York |
| 2 | Paul Codd | Wexford | 0-13 | 13 | Kilkenny |
| 4 | Andrew Mitchell | Westmeath | 1-09 | 12 | Kildare |
| 4 | Kevin Flynn | Dublin | 0-12 | 12 | Meath |
| 4 | Paul Flynn | Waterford | 0-12 | 12 | Cork |
| 4 | Eoin Kelly | Tipperary | 0-12 | 12 | Limerick |
| 8 | Liam Watson | Antrim | 3-02 | 11 | New York |
| 8 | Fergal Healy | Galway | 3-02 | 11 | Down |
| 8 | Nicky Horan | Meath | 2-05 | 11 | Dublin |
| 8 | Eoin Kelly | Tipperary | 1-08 | 11 | Clare |
| 8 | Henry Shefflin | Kilkenny | 0-11 | 11 | Offaly |
