Cork's league stats stack up well so far - with some concerns
Cork's Robbie O'Flynn battles with Rory Burke of Galway. Picture: Inpho/James Crombie
Often, when a panel accompanies a match report, you will find a reference to a side’s better spread of scorers.
With time in short supply in the wake of a match ending as a deadline demands the prompt filing of copy, such a stat is an easy one to count and can help in contextualising the flow of the game – usually, that is.#
By and large, the winning team will have more players getting on the scoresheet but last Saturday night’s national hurling league clash between Cork and Tipperary bucked the trend.
Ben O’Connor’s side made it three wins from three as they won by 0-29 to 0-22, but while their output was shared among nine players, the visitors were more democratic as 12 different personnel manged to register. Adding to the strangeness was that the visitors’ top scorer was defender Eoghan Connolly with four points from long-range frees, despite only coming on as a substitute with 26 minutes remaining.
As the league takes a break this weekend, it is an opportune time to compare some stats from across the seven teams in Division 1A – albeit with the caveats that, as ever, it’s only the league and the fact that each county has a ‘bye round’ means that some, like Cork, have played three times whereas others have just matches under their belts.
In terms of players used, there’s a general uniformity – Tipperary with 30 and Galway with 23 (two games) are the extremes – while Tipp’s 20 scorers leave them as major outliers but Cork’s 15 is the best of the rest.
While it’s unsurprising that Cork, top of the table with three wins from three, top the average scoring charts, the tally from open play is encouraging – their 25.3 points (including goals) per match leaves them well clear of Tipp (20) in second on that ranking.
Equally, though, while Cork’s 22 points conceded per game is the lowest, the fact that the Rebels have conceded 11 points per game from frees or penalties might sound a note of concern as it leaves them well-clear in that metric too. For contrast, Tipp have only allowed 3.67 with Galway the next best on six.
28 players used, 22 starters, 15 scorers
30 used, 24 starters, 20 scorers
26 used, 23 starters, 12 scorers
26 used, 20 starters, 13 scorers
26 used, 19 starters, 13 scorers
23 used, 17 starters, 11 scorers
28 used, 22 starters, 11 scorers
29.6 Cork, 28.33 Tipperary, 24.5 Limerick, 22 Waterford, 21.5 Galway, 21 Kilkenny, 18 Offaly
22 Cork, 22.5 Limerick, 23 Kilkenny, 23.33 Tipperary, Waterford, 25 Galway, 27 Offaly
25.3 Cork, 20 Tipperary, 16.5 Kilkenny, 15.5 Limerick, 14 Galway, 11.33 Offaly, 10 Waterford
3.67 Tipperary, 6 Galway, 7.33 Offaly, 7.5 Kilkenny, 7.67 Waterford, 9 Limerick, 11 Cork
App?
