The 2005 Christy Ring Cup final was a hurling match played at Croke Park on 14 August 2005 to determine the winners of the 2005 Christy Ring Cup, the inaugural season of the Christy Ring Cup, a tournament organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association for the second tier hurling teams. The final was contested by Westmeath of Leinster and Down of Ulster, with Westmeath winning by 1âÂÂ23 to 2âÂÂ18.
The Christy Ring Cup final between Westmeath and Down was the second championship meeting between the two teams, with Down failing to beat Westmeath in the earlier group stage.
Down led 0âÂÂ5 to 0âÂÂ2 after eight minutes, but inspired by some excellent play from defenders Brendan Murtagh and Darren McCormack and Enda Loughlin, Westmeath retired 0âÂÂ12 to 0âÂÂ9 up at half-time. The referee, however, seemed to have made a timekeeping error an only thirty-three minutes and 24 seconds had been played. Unaware, the players headed for the dressing room, although a Down selector did approach referee Denis Richardson with his stopwatch to bring the mistake to his attention, however, he was waved away.
An opportunist goal from Gareth Johnson on 43 minutes, after Westmeath goalkeeper, Mark Briody, had saved from Martin Coulter, edged Down 1âÂÂ12 to 0âÂÂ14 in front. But, on 54 minutes, a similar score from John Shaw after a point attempt from Barry Kennedy had come back off the bar, made it 1âÂÂ18 to 1âÂÂ14 for the midlanders, who, by the 61st minute, had stretched their advantage to 1âÂÂ21 to 1âÂÂ15. However, in the space of three minutes, Down were only a point adrift, with their second goal coming from Stephen Clarke, who drilled the sliotar to the top right-hand corner of the net. On 70 minutes, Martin Coulter levelled from a free, only for Westmeath to crucially hit the last two points.