Cork football: Top teams haven't zoned in on two-point scores yet, goals still matter

Gaelic football’s new rules were expected to suit a kicking team like Kerry. 

They duly kicked on to become Allianz Football League champions. They did it, however, without any of those valuable long-range two-pointers.

Kerry’s last four wins were achieved with no orange flag scored; putting up 3-13 in Tyrone, 2-21 against Armagh, 3-24 in Galway, and 1-18 in the final against Mayo. In only one of their eight games did they kick more two-pointers than an opponent – the group game against Mayo, which they lost.

Some teams have effectively turned their inside scorers into half-forward-line shooters. How have Kerry seemingly ignored the biggest change to Gaelic football’s scoring system in over a century?

The numbers underline the scale of their two-point deficit. They scored nine across the League campaign while conceding 20 for a net loss of 0-22 worth of orange flags. Only London fared worse.

Incidentally, Cork ranked just behind the Exiles and Kingdom for their orange-flag deficit, scoring 20 but conceding 28. Galway were far and away the best adopters of the two-pointer. They converted 30, with Shane Walsh kicking half of those, while allowing just eight at the other end.

Curiously, Waterford compiled the second-best two-point score difference across the groups. They finished bottom of Division 4 despite raising 16 orange flags against seven conceded.

Their manager Paul Shankey likes the two-pointers as a psychological boost when they are chasing down a lead. They pared Wicklow back from a 15-point deficit to a four-point loss in the final 25 minutes of their League meeting with four two-pointers and a late goal.

Perhaps those teams chasing down leads most commonly load up from outside the 40-metre arc.

CLAWING

The biggest difference two-pointers made in any single game was Westmeath’s final-day draw with Roscommon. Similar to Waterford, they trailed by 12 before clawing their way back with five second-half two-pointers. 

A game that would’ve finished 2-16 to 1-14 under the old rules ended up level. Waterford and Antrim scored the most two-pointers in Divisions 4 and 3. Both were relegated.

Westmeath and Tyrone were the second-highest orange-flag collectors in Divisions 2 and 1. They, too, were relegated.

Perhaps it’s all noise and no signal.

Returning to Kerry, their winning captain Gavin White last week explained their two-point drought.

“The last two games, we played as fast as we could. It created more space up front and more opportunities to explore the goal opportunity. If it wasn't on, then you were going to take the one-pointer.

“From my own brief experience in the two games I played, the two-pointers are mainly on a slow play.” 

For all the talk about two-pointers devaluing goals, League results appear to refute that theory.

Kerry rattled the net 16 times in seven group games; the highest tally across all counties and double that of their nearest Division 1 competitors. They ended it by lifting Corn Mhichíl Uí Mhuircheartaigh.

Monaghan were the only county to break double-digits in Division 2, netting 13 times. They also lifted silverware this weekend.

In Division 3, Offaly topped the charts with 15 goals. Another pair in the final saw them crowned champions over goal-shy Kildare.

The Kingdom, Farney, and Faithful each allowed just five goals in that stretch.

Limerick shared the highest goal total in Division 4, matched by Wicklow on 10. Three more in the final brought them up the Hogan Stand steps, beating Wexford by 3-11 to 0-18.

Equally, the teams which conceded the most goals invariably finished bottom of each tier: Derry in Division 1 (seven scored, 18 conceded); Westmeath in Division 2 (seven scored, 13 conceded); Leitrim in Division 3 (two scored, 11 conceded); and Waterford in Division 4 (four scored, 16 conceded).

The only teams to match Leitrim’s paltry two-goal tally were coastal neighbours Sligo and Donegal. 

Has Jim McGuinness a top-secret plan to boost those numbers or will he choose another route?

MID

Cork, meanwhile, ended up mid-table with nine green flags raised and nine conceded. For now, goals may only be worth one more than those two-pointers but the teams which chase them look best placed for success.

The scoring rate could yet rise further. The final round of League games was the most free-scoring. 

There were 40 goals; at an average of 2.5 per game. There were 78 orange flags; an average just under five per game. 

Were dead-rubbers inflating those totals or will the harder ground and better weather further increase the scoring?

Other questions remain. Can underdogs hang on with those two-pointers or will they be blown to smithereens by goals? 

A couple of early provincial mismatches will reveal those answers.