Beggan tops Monaghan’s scoring charts from goalkeeper
One of the best online resources for Gaelic football statistics at present is X account @TheNumbersGael, collated by journalist John Hughes.
Hughes publishes teams’ statistics for the season, unearthing interesting nuggets. For example, Brian Howard, David Byrne and Ciaran Kilkenny were the only three players to start every league and championship match (14 in total) for Dublin this year.
Dessie Farrell’s win percentage as manager was 69.32 per cent over 88 games; for context, predecessor Jim Gavin’s was an astonishing 76.69 per cent over 133 matches. Outgoing Roscommon manager Davy Burke’s record, per Hughes’ research, was 40.91 per cent over 44 matches.
Hughes also totted up the percentage of scores contributed by a single player. Waterford’s Jason Curry leads the way with a sensational 39.15 per cent of the Déise’s total in 2025, followed by Sam Mulroy of Louth (36.11 per cent), Limerick attacker James Naughton (35.07 per cent), Pat Havern of Down (33.45 per cent) and Westmeath’s Luke Loughlin (33.33 per cent).
What may be the most impressive stat, however, is Rory Beggan contributing 0-59 across 13 Monaghan matches, 0-54 from placed balls. That tally, including 26 two-pointers, makes him the Farney’s leading scorer and surely marks the first time a goalkeeper has ever topped a county’s scoring charts.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s theory does not hold water
“Galway,” opined co-commentator Eamonn Fitzmaurice 32 minutes into yesterday’s clash, “will be happy enough, they’re not playing with much explosiveness yet playing for the third week in a row, it’s the second half before you really get going.”
That was certainly the case on the previous evening as Donegal, noticeably flat in the first half in what was their third match in two weeks, powered on after the break, winning the second half by 1-15 to 0-5, having trailed by seven. Fitzmaurice’s own Kerry also backed it up emphatically afterwards but overall, results do not fully back up his theory.
For example, in 2023, just a point separated Dublin and Mayo at half-time in the quarter-final but the Dubs, who’d had two weeks off, won by 12.
Also that year, a rested Kerry were three up at half-time and won the second half by nine against Tyrone; Cork vs Dery was a one-point game at the midway point before the Rebels wilted, losing by four.
Monaghan were the outliers in 2023 but just about – they trailed by one at half-time against Armagh, were level at full-time and only won on penalties.
Last year, of the four quarter-finalists playing three weeks on the bounce, Derry, Louth and Roscommon were all competitive in the first half and lost the second by five, eight and four points respectively, with Galway (against Dublin) the only ones to buck the trend.
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“So there it is. Armagh v David Clifford. The only Kerry footballer worthy of the name ...”
Columnist Joe Brolly didn’t count on a Man of the Match display from Sean O’Shea ...
Improving as they go along is Meath’s heritage
Meath, it’s fair to say, have generally got better and better as this year has gone on, having toiled in Division 2 of the league.
Then again, maybe it was always thus. The Royals’ last win over Galway at Croke Park was the 1970 All-Ireland semi-final. Writing on these pages that morning, Paddy Downey noted Meath’s “capacity for enormous improvement in each successive game”.
“While hardly a phenomenon, it has confounded the critics many times in the past, most noticeably in 1964 when they also played Galway in a semi-final, in 1966, when the counties met in the final and again in the following year, when the team led by Peter Darby won the Sam Maguire Cup.”
Meath’s levels have escalated in a similar manner this year.
Downey, for the record, was the only journo to tip Meath; Mick Dunne in the Press and the Independent’s John D Hickey both plumped for the Tribesmen.
Number: 3
Donegal wides against Monaghan; amazingly, Michael Murphy registered them all.
Jordan Morris leaves Cavan wondering what could have been
Meath’s Man of the Match, Jordan Morris, was beaming as he accepted his award after the win over Galway, concluding his interview with a rousing – and loud – “Up the Royallll!”
Ironically, the sharpshooter plays his club football just across the county boundary in Cavan. Morris began his career with the Kingscourt Stars club before transferring to Nobber in Meath in his teens.
Morris scored 2-6 as the club won a long-awaited Intermediate Championship title in Meath in 2019 but transferred back to the Stars, one of the giants of senior football in Cavan, in early 2022, helping them to the Senior Championship final the following year.
Breffni fans had hoped the now 25-year-old would switch county allegiances too but he quickly ruled that out (and more’s the pity, says this column).
