St Finbarr's top PPG table as scoring surges across PSFC

With the scoring difference tables now in the book, attention turns to points per game (PPG) and how each of the 12 Premier Senior Football Championship clubs fared in front of goal this season.

For starters, though, the new rules need to be acknowledged. Scoring has inflated, and not by a whisker. The addition of the orange flag and an overall more free-flowing game leaves us with a huge increase in scores across the board.

A total of 53-699 was scored by all 12 club teams (and Duhallow in their quarter-final v Ballincollig) this season.

Cast your mind back to 2024, where the combined tally from teams in the PSFC came in at 43-555. Granted, that’s without the extra relegation playoff and one less bot of extra-time, but there is a noticeable difference in goals, and especially, in points scored.

So you’d expect that all 12 teams finished this year with a better PPG average than they did last year. Eleven of the 12 clubs saw their averages climb. The outlier? Castlehaven.

The two-time defending champions scored marginally less than they did under the old rules – a 0.3 PPG dip – yet still posted a top-three finish. More a compliment to their previous standard than any regression now.

At the top of the pile come champions St Finbarr’s, the Togher men finishing 2.9 PPG better off than they did last year.

Trailing just behind them are Nemo Rangers, who made the biggest leap of any team under the new rules in terms of their PPG return, surging from 13.6 to 19.3, an improvement on the fifth place in the rankings they ended with last year.

Mallow are next up on the PPG table having taken fourth, falling one place from where they were last year, and despite not making it out of the group this season, they finished with an average return of 18 PPG.

Clon are, like Mallow, a place behind on where they were last season and also a point shy of the north Cork side, finishing with 17 PPG from the three group games they played, despite only winning one.

In sixth lie another team that failed to reach the knockouts, Valley Rovers, with 16 PPG across the three group games and two relegation playoff games against Carbery Rangers. Though it was a major lift on last year’s 11.3 PPG return for the Innishannon side.

Newcestown finished seventh, with a 5.6 PPG increase on where they were last year, as they reached the semi-finals only to lose out to Nemo in extra-time. Newly promoted Carrigaline finished 0.4 PPG short of Newcestown, and lie eighth overall.

Ballincollig, the other beaten semi-finalists, take ninth, with a 15 PPG return. They were another one of the major movers to improve on their return last year, though were three places worse off in the rankings.

The gap increases on its way back to 10th, Douglas ending the year with a return of 12 PPG, only marginally improving on last year’s 10.3 PPG average, but are one of two teams to remain where they stood 12 months ago.

Relegated Carbery Rangers ended their disappointing campaign with an 11.6 PPG, just 0.8 better than last season, their return only creeping up slightly with the orange flag. City side St Michael’s complete the rankings, a measly return of 10.3 PPG, though still two better than they were last year, where they also finished in 12th.

Rankings in full:

1st – St Finbarr’s 20.5 PPG 

(Last year: 2nd – 17.6 PPG) 

2nd – Nemo Rangers 19.3 PPG 

(Last year: 5th – 13.6 PPG) 

3rd – Castlehaven 18.3 PPG 

(Last year: 1st – 18.6 PPG) 

4th – Mallow 18.0 PPG 

(Last year: 3rd – 14.8 PPG) 

5th – Clonakilty 17.0 PPG 

(Last year: 4th – 14.8 PPG) 

6th – Valley Rovers 16.0 PPG 

(Last year: 7th – 11.3 PPG) 

7th – Newcestown 15.9 PPG 

(Last year: 9th – 10.3 PPG) 

8th – Carrigaline 15.5 PPG 

9th – Ballincollig 15.0 PPG 

(Last year: 6th – 11.3 PPG) 

10th – Douglas 12.0 PPG 

(Last year: 10th – 10.3 PPG) 

11th – Carbery Rangers 11.6 PPG 

(Last year: 8th – 10.8 PPG) 

12th – St Michael’s 10.3 PPG 

(Last year: 12th – 8.3 PPG)