Cork footballers packed the biggest punch up front despite a thin spread

The conclusion to Cork’s spring outing at Croke Park was certainly a sour one, but there are a lot of things that John Cleary’s side can take solace in as they prepare for their Munster Senior Football Championship opener against Limerick on April 12.

Somewhat surprisingly, Cork posted the fewest number of different scorers in Division 2, even factoring in the league final defeat. The Rebels had just 14 different players to register scores across the eight games played. Second from bottom was Louth, who had 17 different scorers. Tyrone were the runaway leaders with 26.

Cavan, who managed to avoid the drop after Kildare were beaten by Louth, finished the league campaign with 19 different scorers, but were unable to see any of the 19 appear anywhere in the top 10 scoring charts, both overall and from play.

While Cork’s spread was noticeably thin, the numbers posted by those who did hit the target were in a league of their own.

Top of the Division 2 scoring charts at its conclusion, is none other than Steven Sherlock. Was there ever really any doubt?

I’d always make the argument he’s the best footballer in Cork – best forward at the very least – and his return to the fray in 2026 has yielded 51 points across eight games, including 31 from play, which leaves him as the second-highest scorer from that chart.

And the only man ahead of him by the from play metric is Chris Óg Jones, whose grabbed 4-22 (2 tp). The entirety of his scoring haul has come from play and is enough to place him fifth in the overall rankings, too.

But Sherlock and Jones are not the only Cork reps in both top 10s – they’re joined by Mark Cronin, who sits eighth in the overall chart with 1-25 and eighth again from play with 1-19 (3 tp).

Though were it not for a stellar showing in Croker from Sherlock, Louth’s Sam Mulroy would have held out to finish as the Division’s top scorer as he ended the campaign with 2-43.

Derry’s Shane McGuigan completes the podium with 1-42, while Jordan Morris of Meath sits in fourth with 3-32, while his teammate Ruairí Kinsella moved to ninth overall after clipping 0-5 against Cork.

Morris and Kinsella both scored well in the from play charts too, finishing fourth and fifth respectively. McGuigan is also third in the from play table, behind Jones and Sherlock, while Kildare’s Brian McLoughlin hit 1-22 (4 tp) from play to finish sixth in that table.

He leads Derry’s Niall Loughlin, who finishes seventh with 2-17 (2 tp), and only a point ahead of Mark Cronin.

Meath’s Jack O’Connor ends ninth from play, while Mulroy and Tyrone’s Darragh Canavan share tenth spot.

In the overall chart, Keith O’Neill is Offaly’s sole representative in either top 10, as he finished with 0-26 as they were defeated in all seven games.

National Football League Division 2 Top 10 scorers:

1 Steven Sherlock (Cork) 0-51 (9 tp, 3 tpf, 0-10 f, 0-4 45) 

2 Sam Mulroy (Louth) 2-43 (5 tp, 6 tpf, 0-13 f, 0-1 45, 1-0 pen) 

3 Shane McGuigan (Derry) 1-42 (2 tp, 3 tpf, 0-10 f) 

4 Jordan Morris (Meath) 3-32 (1 tp, 1 tpf, 0-5 f, 2-0 pen) 

5 Chris Óg Jones (Cork) 4-22 (2 tp) 

6 Ethan Jordan (Tyrone) 2-27 (4 tp, 2 tpf, 0-7 f, 0-5 45) 

7 Brian McLoughlin (Kildare) 1-28 (4 tp, 1 tpf, 0-4 f) 

8 Mark Cronin (Cork) 1-25 (3 tp, 0-5 f, 0-1 m) 

9 Ruairí Kinsella (Meath) 2-21 (5 tp) 

10 Keith O'Neill (Offaly) 0-26 (3 tp, 1 tpf, 0-6 f) 

National Football League Division 2 Top 10 scorers from play:

1 Chris Óg Jones (Cork) 4-22 (2 tp) 

2 Steven Sherlock (Cork) 0-31 (9 tp) 

3 Shane McGuigan (Derry) 1-26 (2 tp) 

4 Jordan Morris (Meath) 1-25 (1 tp) 

5 Ruairí Kinsella (Meath) 2-21 (5 tp) 

6 Brian McLoughlin (Kildare) 1-22 (4 tp) 

7 Niall Loughlin (Derry) 2-17 (2 tp) 

8 Mark Cronin (Cork) 1-19 (3 tp) 

9 Jack O'Connor (Meath) 2-15 (5 tp) 

10 Sam Mulroy (Louth) 1-17 (5 tp) 

10 Darragh Canavan (Tyrone) 0-20 (2 tp)