By Peter McNamara
Kilkenny’s spread of scorers
Kilkenny had four individual scorers against Waterford in their Allianz NHL Division 1A opener.
In their five-point defeat of Tipp, five players registered their names on the scoresheet for Brian Cody’s side.
En route to capturing the All-Ireland title last year, the Cats had eight, seven, six and nine different scorers in their Championship encounters with Wexford, Galway, Waterford and Galway again.
On average, Kilkenny were successful, in the 2015 Championship, with 7.5 scorers per game.
Obviously, the League and Championship are cut from different cloths.
However, you will find that the average number of individual scorers required to succeed in either competition deviates little from the 7.5 figure-base over the last four seasons in particular.
Therefore, Cody may look for more from his players from midfield right through to the corner-forwards in this campaign.
Kilkenny have scored 2-27 but 0-17 was tallied by TJ Reid including 12 converted frees and one 65.
The three starting midfielders utilised – Cillian Buckley, Conor Fogarty and Lester Ryan – have yet to contribute in a scoring sense, for instance.
Of greater pertinence, though, the full-forward line against the Déise, comprising of Jonjo Farrell, Colin Fennelly and Mark Kelly hit just 0-1, from the stick of Fennelly.
And even though Kevin Kelly’s two majors were match-winning in the tussle with Tipp, both occurred extremely late in the day.
Generally, Kilkenny’s inside forward division was relatively subdued in Nowlan Park with John Power also failing to score meaning three of the Cats’ starting inside attackers did not contribute to their tallies in their two outings thus far.
Kelly, of course, scored 2-1 which, at the end of the day, is still a massive plus.
Yet, even Walter Walsh’s 0-1 was executed while he was operating further out-field.
Cody will be seeking much more from his troops.
James Maher
As an interesting counterpoint to the above argument, James Maher will surely be a player Kilkenny and hurling fans on the whole will be seeing much more of in the League.
Maher replaced Mark Kelly after 48 minutes of the Cats’ clash with Waterford and, understandably, appeared to be an attacker finding his feet at this level.
Yet, his performance yesterday was exceptional as a starting wing-forward as Maher pilfered 0-4 in open play and four scores of conviction too.
In fact, it was that very same conviction that epitomised his overall performance.
Maher roamed Nowlan Park as if a regular first-teamer in a display of swagger and deep-rooted self-belief.
Of course, one swallow never makes a summer and his contributions will be further under the microscope in the coming weeks but the St Lachtain’s man starred in a high-intensity situation which is never easy.
Maher ticked a lot of boxes.
Is Colin Ryan an underestimated Clare asset?
It seems as if Colin Ryan is an underestimated performer for Clare but one that could have a major impact on the League and Championship this season.
Ryan is, of course, an established player within Davy Fitzgerald’s ranks.
Yet, he may not get the credit he deserves.
Again, yesterday, Ryan registered 0-10 in Innovate Wexford Park.
Granted, eight of those were frees and another a 65 yet, that should not detract at all from his importance to the Banner men.
People constantly refer to the likes of Tony Kelly as being Clare’s most treasured asset.
However, where would they be without a sharpshooter such as Ryan?
The Newmarket-on-Fergus was not one of the eight Clare men honoured with an All-Star in their All-Ireland-winning year of 2013.
However, his worth should be appreciated far more this year as people begin to realise how vital a cog he is for a side with great expectations.
