Aidan O'Connor tops the overall scoring charts but Brian Hayes gets the from play crown

Fri, 10 Apr, 2026 - 09:02

Jack McKay

A bitter end to the league campaign, perhaps. A far from satisfactory final performance for the Cork hurlers, at the very least.

Ben O’Connor’s side never really got firing in their league final defeat, but were very impressive at different stages throughout the early months and put together several convincing performances.

One player to do well all throughout the season was Brian Hayes, the Cork forward finishing as the division’s top scorer from play having bagged 6-9 across six games. He was the highest goalscorer in the division too, once again drawing attention to his ability to find and convert green flag chances.

The competition’s overall top scorer was Aidan O’Connor – one of only two high-scoring forwards to play the full seven games – and he ended the season with a total of 1-63 (0-41 f, 1-0 pen, 0-3 65).

The other man to feature in seven games was Cork’s Darragh Fitzgibbon, who ended the campaign as the fifth-highest scorer from play with 2-15. Whether he’ll be kept as a wing-forward or returns to midfield remains to be seen, but he’s had a solid season so far.

Aidan O'Connor of Limerick prepares to take a free during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A final match between Limerick and Cork at TUS Gaelic Grounds in Limerick. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Second in the overall charts is Waterford’s Reuben Halloran with 1-45, another player largely reliant on placed balls, while the same is true for the man in third place; Adam Screeney.

The Offaly talent finished the league with 0-43 (0-32 f) despite the Faithful’s failure to win a game, and marginally edged out Galway’s Cathal Mannion.

Mannion ended the spring competition with 1-37 (0-17 f, 0-1 65) which was enough to see him finish as Division 1A’s second-highest top scorer from play, but he wasn’t the Galway forward to garner the most attention, as great as his performances were.

Aaron Niland, still U20 and scorer of 3-8 last weekend as the Tribesmen beat Wexford, he managed 0-37 (0-23 f, 0-1 65) for the seniors in six games, ranking him sixth in the overall chart.

Ahead of him in fifth is Alan Connolly, the other Cork representative between the two scoring tables, after scoring 1-36 (0-29 f, 0-1 65). Tipperary’s Jason Forde is a touch further back with 3-26, ahead of the eighth and ninth-placed Kilkenny duo of Cian Kenny and Eoin Cody respectively, while Brian Hayes and his 6-9 complete the top 10, as he’s the only player to feature on the overall chart without a placed score.

Darragh Fitzgibbon of Cork finished the league season with 2-15 from play. Picture: ©Inpho/David Ribeiro

The runner-up spot to Hayes in the from play chart is a three-way tie, Mannion joined by Limerick duo Aaron Gillane and Cathal O’Neill, who each scored 3-13.

O’Connor sits behind fifth placed Fitzgibbon with 0-19 from play, while seventh place is split evenly between four different players.

Jake Morris, Eoin Cody, Shane O’Brien and Mossy Keoghan each finished with a combined total of 18, as Keoghan scored the most goals with 3.

National Hurling League Division 1A Top 10 scorers:

1 Aidan O'Connor (Limerick) 1-63 (0-41 f, 1-0 pen, 0-3 65)

2 Reuben Halloran (Waterford) 1-45 (0-33 f, 0-7 65)

3 Adam Screeney (Offaly) 0-43 (0-32 f)

4 Cathal Mannion (Galway) 1-37 (0-17 f, 0-1 65)

5 Alan Connolly (Cork) 1-36 (0-29 f, 0-1 65)

6 Aaron Niland (Galway) 0-37 (0-23 f, 0-1 65)

7 Jason Forde (Tipperary) 3-26 (1-0 pen, 0-17 f, 0-3 65)

8 Cian Kenny (Kilkenny) 0-30 (0-21 f, 0-1 65)

9 Eoin Cody (Kilkenny) 2-21 (0-9f)