Is there too much scoring in hurling?
KILLINAN END
Demographics have sent the clubs in opposite directions these days but back in the 1970s tension filled the air when Ballina and Ballinahinch were in opposing corners of a North Intermediate championship clash.
The boxing ring analogy is not entirely inappropriate either as a skirmish was rarely far from the surface. In 1978 when the teams met at Intermediate level the traditional shemozzle kicked off towards the end of the game. The match report mentioned the appalling and unbelievable spectacle of spectators actually encouraging the players in their pugilistic endeavours. Having processed the shock of all that, our attention was drawn to the scoreline: Ballinahinch 3-12 Ballina 1-10. It was suggested that 3-12 was quite a significant score for 1978 which naturally, at least if you have an inquiring mind, inclines you towards comparisons with other scorelines of those years.
The claim that it was a substantial score most certainly holds true. It was bettered as a winning total only eight times in 59 North Tipp Senior and Intermediate Finals 1970-99. The 1978 All-Ireland hurling final was won by Cork with a score of 1-15. The previous year they had hit 1-17 against Wexford. The tight and tense 1978 Munster Final between Cork and Clare finished 0-13 to 0-11; the first goalless final for fifteen years. Ballinahinch’s score that day in 1978 does stand comparison with any mentioned, and indeed Ballina’s losing total of 1-10 was not paltry for the time either. It was bettered by the losing finalists only five times in the 20 North Intermediate hurling finals of the 1970s and ‘80s. Incidentally, two of those were by Ballina themselves, so these fellows could figure out where the goalposts were.
There is a veritable industry these days in sport statistics. Sometimes the statistical pudding can be over-egged. Rugby’s tackle count is important yet logically the team with the most possession is probably the one being tackled. Having the most tackles may not lift all boats. The soccer match last Sunday between two of England's biggest clubs saw the final scoreline somewhat at odds with the apparent flow of the match. The team that had most possession in the areas of most apparent danger lost. Of course, their London opponents defended in numbers ensuring that in the heel of the hunt they were ahead on the one statistic that overrides everything else. That’s why it’s the only stat on the scoreboard.
No doubt many measurements of performance feed into a final scoreline. Hurling scores these days, astronomical by historical standards, have many sources. Someone who was not around in the 1960s but watched an All-Ireland final from that era recently remarked about the style of players’ swing especially in ground hurling. He thought it was an art rather like the way golfers swing. Maybe they needed to be like golfers in those days. There's a photograph of Jimmy Doyle in a hotel in Thurles in which he does indeed demonstrate a swing of remarkable virtuosity. However, the most notable element of the picture - and there's nothing much new in this observation - was that his hurley resembled a hockey stick. Striking a ball with the modern hurley is definitely an advantage over players of the past.
The possession game that has developed to extraordinary levels in recent years also contributes to the increase in scores. Back in the day possession was up for grabs constantly during matches with obvious implications for scoring opportunities. At one level this is all progress, the natural result of benefiting from the trial and error of previous generations. However, it is not ideal that so much of the modern game, with its emphasis on possession, relies heavily on a hand-pass which appears highly dubious most of the time. Presumably modern players are better at hand-passing than any other generation since they must surely practise it more. However, better handpassing does not equate to legal handpassing. If punditry had not taken a vow of silence on the hand-pass you wonder to what extent it would now impact on scorelines, not to mention severe beatings for teams which are not quite at the pace of the game.
If there's one trap we can fall into easily it is thinking that huge scores are necessarily indicative of the quality of the team. Be careful on this one. In the 2025 All-Ireland hurling final Cork had scored as much by half-time as Kilkenny managed in 70 minutes beating Cork in the 2006 final, and more than the 1-14 they scored to beat the Rebel County three years earlier. Kilkenny romped home against Offaly in the 2000 hurling final but raised only 15 white flags in doing so. Tipp scored the same in just the second half of the 2025 final as Kilkenny scored in the 2011 and 2014 final replay. Surely the ultimate eye-opener is the thought that Limerick scored more in the first half of the 2021 final than they managed in the entire 2018 final with largely the same team. Where will it end?