Hurling: Brian Hayes, William Buckley and Shane Barrett among championship top scorers from play
Waterford's Paddy Leavey tries to dispossess Cork's Brian Hayes during their Munster Senior Hurling Championship clash at Azzurri Walsh Park.
Three rounds completed across Leinster and Munster, two more to go. As it stands, none of the 11 teams have been mathematically eliminated, though Waterford and Kildare will require nothing but wins in their remaining fixtures and results to go their way elsewhere.
Kildare have a very slim chance. The Lilywhites need wins against Kilkenny and Offaly, while also hoping that Offaly and Wexford’s meeting ends in a draw or a Faithful win, and that Galway finish off Wexford on the final day. Only then can they slip through in third.
Waterford’s route out of Munster is even more complex, though they can still qualify for the Munster final, but only if Tipperary and Clare end in a draw and they beat Limerick in Round 4, before a Cork win over Clare in Round 5 and another draw – between Tipperary and Clare – leaves everyone except Cork on three points. Waterford would need a considerable 10+ point swing against Limerick to make that happen, though.
Their most straightforward path out is to beat Limerick, hope that Clare lose twice, and then have Limerick beat Tipperary to take third place on points difference after their draw with Tipp in Round 2.
The loss of Stephen Bennett to injury won’t help their cause either, nor will it aid his position at the top of the scoring charts. Between both provinces, his 4-24 total remains the highest of any player, and he’s tied as the fifth highest scorer from play too.
At the moment, the from-play top scorer is Rory Burke, the Oranmore-Maree forward with 3-7 from play across Galway’s opening three games, 1-3 of which came in their last game against Kildare.
Donal Burke’s form has been impressive and he was outstanding in their win over Wexford, as he went toe-to-toe with Lee Chin in the battle from placed balls.
It is those two that occupy the podium spots in the scoring charts, Chin second and Burke third. Kildare’s Jack Sheridan is in fourth, while Cork’s only top 10 representative Alan Connolly sits fifth.
In the from-play scoring charts, Cork have three representatives, Brian Hayes, William Buckley and Shane Barrett, with each on 10 points. Hayes has scored 0-10, seven of which came in last weekend’s win over Waterford, while Buckley and Barrett have 1-7 each.
Joining Burke at the top of the from-play charts are Kilkenny’s Mossy Keoghan with 2-7, while Galway’s Conor Whelan and Kildare’s Jack Sheridan are tied for third, with 1-9 and 2-6 respectively.
Aidan O’Connor and Bennett are Munster’s highest scorers from play.
Stephen Bennett (Waterford) 4-24 (0-21 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-1 65) Lee Chin (Wexford) 1-32 (0-27 frees, 0-1 65)
Donal Burke (Dublin) 0-32 (0-21 frees, 0-3 65)
Jack Sheridan (Kildare) 2-23 (0-15 frees, 0-2 65)
Alan Connolly (Cork) 1-24 (0-18 frees)
TJ Reid (Kilkenny) 2-19 (0-17 frees, 1-0 pen)
Mark Rodgers (Clare) 0-21 (0-17 frees, 0-2 65)
Adam Screeney (Offaly) 1-17 (0-13 frees, 0-1 65)
Aidan O’Connor (Limerick) 1-16 (0-8 frees)
Rory Burke (Galway) 4-7 (1-0 pen)
Rory Burke (Galway) 3-7
Mossy Keoghan (Kilkenny) 2-7
Conor Whelan (Galway) 1-9
Jack Sheridan (Kildare) 2-6
Aidan O’Connor (Limerick) 1-8
Cian Kenny (Kilkenny) 1-8
Stephen Bennett (Waterford) 3-2
Brian Hayes (Cork) 0-10
William Buckley (Cork) 0-10
Shane Barrett (Cork) 1-7
Cian O’Sullivan (Dublin) 1-7
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