In what’s now seemingly destined to be a forgettable year for them, the county’s hurlers this afternoon fell to defeat for the second time in this year’s Christy Ring Cup. This time it was a surprise eight-point home loss to Christy Ring newcomers, Tyrone, who emerged from Hastings Insurance MacHale Park the winners on a scoreline of 2-22 to 1-17.

Today’s defeat is even more stark from our perspective when you consider that just two years ago we had sixteen points to spare over Tyrone in that year’s Rackard Cup final and that last year we contested the Ring Cup final.

We’ve now lost our opening two matches in this year’s Ring Cup and, while it’s still relatively early stages, there’s every danger that this campaign could end with the county’s relegation back to Rackard Cup level for 2024.

Next up for us is a home match against London in Round 3 next weekend.

Match reports on today’s game are available from Connaught Telegraph, Irish Independent.