Breaking down Cork hurlers' points-per-game statistics from 2025 championship

Across seven games and an extra-time thriller in the Munster final, Cork’s championship run totalled 510 minutes. Just three players – Brian Hayes, Darragh Fitzgibbon, and Patrick Collins – played every one of them.

But once again, Cork’s campaign ended without the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship title, undone by a second-half collapse against Tipperary. That period proved costly, a stretch where Cork failed to gain any control. But across the season, scoring wasn’t in short supply.

As we did last year, we’ve broken down Cork’s points per game (PPG) stats to assess each player’s scoreboard impact.

Some caveats: Jack O’Connor tops the PPG list on paper — thanks to one score in three minutes against Dublin — but for meaningful analysis, only players with 100 minutes or more are included. This also doesn’t reflect the overall contribution of defenders or midfielders who aren't primary scorers. We’re also focusing solely on scores from play.

Alan Connolly ranks first with a PPG of 3.43, helped slightly by being subbed off in the All-Ireland final. Brian Hayes, one of three ever-presents, claims second with 3.29 PPG. Both players improved upon last season’s PPG ratios.

Shane Barrett follows closely (3.17 PPG), again improving marginally year-on-year, while Séamus Harnedy (3.09 PPG) is the only other forward to surpass 3.00. Declan Dalton (2.67 PPG) and Diarmuid Healy (2.63 PPG), the latter enjoying an excellent debut campaign, round out the top six.

Tim O’Mahony lies seventh with 2.01, while both Darragh Fitzgibbon and Patrick Horgan were the only regular shooters to clock less than 2.00 PPG. Fitzgibbon (1.78 PPG) ranks eighth while Horgan (1.70 PPG) is notably down from last year’s from play average of 2.68 PPG.

Rankings in full:

1 – Alan Connolly – 449 mins (4-10) 

6.41 games, 22 points total 

3.43 PPG  (2.99 PPG last year) 

2 – Brian Hayes – 510 mins (5-9) 

7.29 games, 24 points total 

3.29 PPG (2.58 PPG last year) 

3 – Shane Barrett – 420 mins (2-13) 

6.00 games, 19 points total 

3.17 PPG (3.03 PPG last year) 

4 – Séamus Harnedy – 317 mins (0-14) 

4.53 games, 14 points total 

3.09 PPG (3.73 PPG last year) 

5 – Declan Dalton – 210 mins (1-13, 0-5 f) 

3.00 games, 16 points total 

2.67 PPG (5.33 PPG with frees) (1.70 PPG last year) 

6 – Diarmuid Healy – 213 mins (0-8) 

3.04 games, 8 points total 

2.63 PPG 

7 – Tim O'Mahony – 453 mins (3-4) 

6.47 games, 13 points total 

2.01 PPG 

8 – Darragh Fitzgibbon – 510 mins (0-16, 0-2 f, 0-1 65) 

7.29 games, 16 points total 

1.78 PPG (2.19 PPG including frees) 

9 – Patrick Horgan – 452 mins (3-53, 0-41 f, 0-1 65) 

6.46 games, 62 points total 

1.70 PPG (9.60 PPG with frees) (2.68 PPG last year) 

10 – Brian Roche – 154 mins (0-2) 

2.20 games, 2 points total 

0.91 PPG 

11 – Damien Cahalane – 126 mins (0-1) 

1.80 games, 1 point total 

0.56 PPG 

12 – Cormac O’Brien – 158 mins (0-1) 

2.26 games, 1 point total 

0.44 PPG 

13 – Robert Downey – 265 mins (0-1) 

3.79 games, 1 point total 

0.26 PPG 

14 – Mark Coleman – 504 mins (0-2) 

7.20 games, 2 points total 

0.28 PPG 

15 – Niall O’Leary – 353 mins (0-1) 

5.04 games, 1 point total 

0.20 PPG 

16 – Ciarán Joyce – 506 mins (0-1) 

7.23 games, 1 point total 

0.14 PPG 

17 – Eoin Downey – 493 mins (0-1) 

7.04 games, 1 point total 

0.14 PPG 

N/A played fewer than 100 minutes:

Jack O’Connor – 3 mins (0-1) 

0.04 games, 1 point total 

22.80 PPG (0.00 PPG last year) 

Shane Kingston – 64 mins (0-6) 

0.91 games, 6 points total 

6.59 PPG (4.00 PPG last year) 

Conor Lehane – 50 mins (0-4) 

0.71 games, 4 points total 

5.63 PPG (1.53 PPG last year) 

Tommy O’Connell – 50 mins (0-2) 

0.71 games, 2 points total

2.82 PPG 

Robbie O’Flynn – 60 mins (0-2) 

0.86 games, 2 points total 

2.32 PPG (4.24 PPG last year) 

N/A no scores recorded:

Patrick Collins, Seán O'Donoghue, Ger Millerick, Ethan Twomey, Luke Meade.