Daithí Sands

Daithí Sands

Personal information
Irish name	Daithí Ó Seachnasaigh
Sport	Hurling
Position	Full-forward
Born	1998 Portaferry, County Down, Northern Ireland
Club(s)
Years	Club
	Portaferry
Club titles
Down titles	1
Colleges(s)
Years	College
	Ulster University
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles	0
Inter-county(ies)
Years	County
2018-present	Down
Inter-county titles
Ulster titles	0
All-Irelands	0
NHL	0
All Stars	0

Daithí Sands (born 1998) is a Northern Irish hurler. At club level he plays with Portaferry and at inter-county level with the Down senior hurling team.

Career

McCrickard first played hurling as a student at St Patrick's Grammar School in Downpatrick.^[1] He also played hurling during his time at the University of Ulster and lined out in the Ryan Cup and Conor McGurk Cup competitions.^[2]

At club level, Sands first played for Portaferry in the various juvenile and underage grades, before later joining the club's adult team. He won a Down SHC medal after beating Ballycran in the 2020 final replay.^[3]

Sands first lined out at inter-county level with Down during a two-year stint with the minor team in 2015 and 2016. He later lined out with the under-21 team before making his Down senior hurling team debut in 2018. Sands was a back-to-back Christy Ring Cup runner-up in 2019 and 2020, however, in spite of those defeats he won a National Hurling League Division 2B medal in 2020.^[4][5][6] He was also named on the GAA/GPA Champion 15 in 2019.^[7] Sands claimed a second personal accolade in 2022 when he was selected on the Joe McDonagh Cup Team of the Year.^[8]

Career statistics

As of match played 25 May 2024.

Team	Year	National League			Ring Cup		McDonagh Cup		Total
		Division	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score	Apps	Score
Down	2018	Division 2B	4	1-06	3	6-05	—		7	7-11
	2019		3	3-08	5	7-08	—		8	10-16
	2020		1	0-03	3	1-02	—		4	1-05
	2021	Division 2A	5	1-06	—		2	1-04	7	2-10
	2022		6	1-03	—		5	4-08	11	5-11
	2023		2	0-04	—		5	0-03	7	0-07
	2024		6	6-09	—		5	5-08	11	11-17
Total			27	12-39	11	14-15	17	10-23	55	36-77

Honours

Team

Portaferry

• Down Senior Hurling Championship: 2020

Down

• National Hurling League Division 2B: 2020

Individual

Awards

• Joe McDonagh Cup Team of the Year: 2022
• GAA/GPA Champion 15: 2019

References

1. "College Hurlers make History". Newry.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
2. "Gaelic Games: Ulster University defeat young Saffrons in Conor McGurk Cup". Belfast Media. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
3. "Down SHC final replay: Sands seals the deal". Hogan Stand. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
4. "Herity guides Kildare to Christy Ring Cup triumph over Down in Croke Park decider". The42.ie. 22 November 2020.
5. "Meath storm past Down to win Christy Ring Cup". Irish Examiner. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
6. "Down claim Division 2B title as Derry suffer another final defeat". Irish Examiner. 18 October 2020. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
7. "Ring, Rackard, Meagher Champion 15 announced". GAA website. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
8. "Joe McDonagh Cup Team of the Year announced". GAA website. 19 October 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2024.