Hurling: Brian Hayes takes over as top-scorer from play after Offaly rout
Brian Hayes of Cork in action against Ben Conneely of Offaly during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Cork and Offaly at Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Picture: Paul Phelan/Sportsfile
After last weekend’s hurling action surprised few and disappointed many, we’re left with the final four. Galway stand as the lone Leinster representative, and Munster’s three teams march on, as expected. And it was an ugly look for hurling.
When the Connacht and Ulster champions are gone before the All-Ireland quarter-finals, it tells you plenty about the depth in the big ball and the sheer lack of it in the small. Format changes will only arise if this trend continues to point in the wrong direction for hurling, but Cork’s demolition of Offaly was particularly tough to watch, and is proof of the widening gap.
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Where it was at least of benefit to Cork was on the scoring front, Alan Connolly moved up to second in the overall charts, having been sixth prior to the Munster final. He’s got 1-49 so far but still trails Donal Burke by 24 and has at most two games remaining to close that gap.
He managed to jump Lee Chin who now falls to third, while Limerick’s Aidan O’Connor is not too far behind either, with 3-39 and two games to go.
That number was enough to see him jump from eighth to first in two games, ahead of Galway duo Tom Monaghan (1-21) and Conor Whelan (1-19) who sit second and third in from-play scoring.
Shane Barrett is now fourth after his 1-3 play haul versus the Faithful, while Limerick’s Aidan O’Connor loses top spot and drops to fifth. William Buckley sits eighth in the from play charts as the other remaining Cork representative, with 0-17 to his name.
Bizarrely, despite playing five games to date, there are still no Clare representatives on either list, though Tony Kelly’s 1-26 overall is only one behind Adam Screeney, who props up the top 10.
1 Donal Burke (Dublin) 3-67 (0-46 frees, 1-6 65, 2-0 pen)
2 Alan Connolly (Cork) 1-49 (0-37 frees, 0-2 65)
3 Lee Chin (Wexford) 2-44 (0-36 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-1 65)
4 Aidan O’Connor (Limerick) 3-39 (0-22 frees, 1-3 65)
5 Eoghan Cahill (Offaly) 1-42 (0-30 frees, 1-0 pen, 0-2 65)
6 TJ Reid (Kilkenny) 4-32 (0-24 frees, 2-0 pen, 0-1 65)
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 Aaron Niland (Galway) 1-30 (0-23 frees, 1-0 pen)
10 Adam Screeney (Offaly) 3-21 (0-14 frees, 0-2 65)
1 Brian Hayes (Cork) 5-13
2 Tom Monaghan (Galway) 1-21
3 Conor Whelan (Galway) 1-19
4 Shane Barrett (Cork) 2-15
5 Aidan O’Connor (Limerick) 2-14
6 Brian Duignan (Offaly) 2-12
6 Mossy Keoghan (Kilkenny) 2-12
8 Rory Burke (Galway) 3-8
8 William Buckley (Cork) 0-17
10 Cian Kenny (Kilkenny) 1-13
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