Cork Hurling: Balance up front reflected in scoring stats

With the provincial championships almost rounded off – only the deciders are outstanding – Donal Burke now tops the chart as the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship’s top-scorer with 2-52 from their five round robin games in Leinster.

He’s played every available minute for Dublin and so it’s of little surprise to see him six clear at the top, but of course Leinster teams have the luxury of a game extra when compared to their counterparts in Munster.

It means that the top 10 is made up of seven players from Leinster and only three from Munster – with neither Tipperary or Clare having a top 10 representative, while Kildare, Wexford and Kilkenny each have one.

And it is the two most prominent Wexford and Kilkenny names, Lee Chin and TJ Reid, that occupy the remaining podium spots. Chin scored 2-44 in five for Wexford and Reid managed 4-32 for Kilkenny, the latter of course getting enough to take the all-time championship scoring crown from Cork’s Patrick Horgan.

Offaly’s Eoghan Cahill moved up to fourth after a 0-13 haul versus Kildare, which took his overall tally to 1-40.

Munster’s top scorers are – Aidan O’Connor and Alan Connolly, who go head to head this weekend – O’Connor marginally ahead with 3-31 to Connolly’s 1-35.

Kildare’s Jack Sheridan (2-30) leads Waterford’s Stephen Bennett (4-24) though Bennett’s total was picked up in only two and a half games of hurling.

In the from-play section, Aidan O’Connor clears it with 2-13, a point ahead of Kilkenny’s Mossy Keoghan, who scored 2-12 in five. But, with the Cats gone, Keoghan won’t be increasing his tally, so it’s the Galway duo of Conor Whelan and Tom Monaghan that have scored 1-14 each that will be looking to catch O’Connor.

Bizarrely, despite only starting two championship matches and appearing as a substitute in three, Monaghan is Galway’s joint top scorer from play. Behind him are Kilkenny’s Cian Kenny and Galway teammate Rory Burke, though the latter has only played three games this season.

That Cork have three representatives in the from-play chart but none near the top does show how well balanced their forwards have been this season. Even if the list needs to be stretched to include William Buckley (there’s a four man tie for tenth place) it can only serve as a positive ahead of this weekend, that Brian Hayes, Shane Barrett and Buckley have been so influential. But it’s not only the forwards that have brought Ben O’Connor’s side to this point.

In fact, while Limerick have been Munster’s biggest scoring threat with 10-109, Cork’s defensive record is the most superior, 3-84 conceding compared to next best Limerick with 5-85. Given that Cork have done so without their primary options for full- and centre-back makes that even more impressive, and is encouraging ahead of this weekend’s decider.

But, naturally, the Munster title on the line is not what the Rebels will measure their season by. July’s prize is, and will always be the priority, until Liam MacCarthy is reclaimed.

Top 10 scorers:

1 Donal Burke (Dublin) 2-52 (0-31 frees, 1-3 65, 1-0 pen) 

2 Lee Chin (Wexford) 2-44 (0-36 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-1 65) 

3 TJ Reid (Kilkenny) 4-32 (0-24 frees, 2-0 pen, 0-1 65) 

4 Eoghan Cahill (Offaly) 1-40 (0-29 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-1 65) 

5 Aidan O’Connor (Limerick) 3-31 (0-17 frees, 1-1 65) 

6 Alan Connolly (Cork) 1-35 (0-26 frees) 

7 Jack Sheridan (Kildare) 2-30 (0-21 frees, 0-2 65) 

7 Stephen Bennett (Waterford) 4-24 (0-21 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-1 65) 

9 Adam Screeney (Offaly) 2-18 (0-13 frees, 0-1 65) 

10 Aaron Niland (Galway) 0-22 (0-17 frees) 

Top 10 scorers from play:

1 Aidan O’Connor (Limerick) 2-13 

2 Mossy Keoghan (Kilkenny) 2-12 

3 Conor Whelan (Galway) 1-14 

3 Tom Monaghan (Galway) 1-14 

5 Cian Kenny (Kilkenny) 1-13 

5 Rory Burke (Galway) 3-7 

7 Brian Duignan (Offaly) 2-9 

8 Brian Hayes (Cork) 1-12 

8 Shane Barrett (Cork) 1-12 

10 Cathal O’Neill (Limerick) 0-14 

10 Dan Bourke (Offaly) 0-14 

10 William Buckley (Cork) 0-14 

10 Kevin Mahony (Waterford) 2-8