Do two-pointers win you games? Cork's club championships say not yet

The impact of football’s new rules – now well into their second year – is well documented at this stage, but there is no better example to summarise the difference than Mayo this season.

Across the National Football League Division 1 campaign, Mayo registered 11 different two-point scorers. When it came to championship time, as highlighted in the Irish Independent, they raised 32 orange flags this year compared to a mere three last season.

No such striking differences can be found just yet in the Cork club football championships, at least not to the level of Mayo’s. Although, last season’s most prominent orange flag raisers Newcestown (15 two-pointers in five games with two spells of extra-time) made a run to the semi-final and were agonisingly close to reaching the decider.

Sides to eventually reach the knockouts tended to lean more on shots from outside the arc, but this season, no indications of the pattern repeating have appeared yet.

There are only two club sides across the top three grades that have accumulated over 40% of their scores from orange flags. 

They are Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh (44%) and Macroom (44%). Both have registered four and five different orange flag raisers respectively.

Their reliance on the new flag has not yielded a perfect record – both have one win – but Macroom were held to a draw on the opening weekend by Castletownbere and Béal Átha’n Ghaorthaidh were trounced by Kanturk 1-19 to 0-11 in their curtain raiser.

The evidence across the other grades does little to prop up any narrative that two-point reliance increases – or decreases – the likelihood of a positive result, either.

At Premier Senior level, Duhallow scored 1-23 in their defeat to Carbery – 43% of which came from orange flags – but fell to defeat and missed out on reaching the championship proper.

The club side with the highest reliance on two-pointers is Mallow, who have had four different distance shooters and scored 36% of their haul across the first two games from outside the arc, and they’re on the brink of elimination.

But, in contrast, both Carrigaline and Valley Rovers – the only two sides with maximum points after two games – have had 31% and 28% of their scoring burden respectively come from two-pointers. Then, the other group leader Clonakilty, have only kicked two orange flags.

The pattern is that there is effectively none.

Carbery Rangers (35%), Newmarket (34%) and Éire Óg (28%) have all leaned heavily on scores from outside the arc at Senior A, and only Éire Óg are sure of their place in the knockout stages.

Clyda Rovers are the only Senior A side to have scored less than 10% of their total from two-pointers, and they are currently the team with the fewest points and worst scoring differential. Kilshannig have only kicked four orange flags, 16% of their overall scoring, and are already through to the knockout phase.

At Premier Intermediate, of the five teams most reliant on two-pointers, only Glanmire are not currently occupying a knockout place. 

The Seandún side are winless from their opening two despite kicking 31% of their scores from beyond the arc.

And while Macroom (44%), Kiskeam (26%), Naomh Abán (25%) and Nemo Rangers (23%) all support the theory that orange flags are key, only 15% of Uibh Laoire’s scores have come from downtown.

Then again, it helps when you can score seven goals in two games.