Limerick SHC: Jason Gillane leads the scoring charts after four rounds

JASON Gillane continues to lead the way as top scorer in the Limerick SHC. The 26-year-old's return out field has been marked with 4-28, having assumed free taking duties for Patrickswell. Meanwhile the likes of Con Hayes, Patrick Kearney, Liam Lynch and Pierce Connery have caught the eye from play across the opening four rounds of the championship. A total of 252 players have seen game time in the top grade of hurling on Shannonside. With that, 148 of those have registered scores, with Patrickswell's Jason Gillane leading the way with 4-28. His hat-trick of goals against Garryspillane, as well as an opening round green flag against Newcastle West have Gillane, a Daly Cup winner in 2019, ahead of Adam English.English, with 1-35, is in second spot, while Mungret St. Paul's inside forward, Liam Lynch, has scored 3-28 (37), the same as Hugh Flanagan 1-34. The likes of Tom Morrissey, Micheál Houlihan and Willie Griffin are no strangers to being among sharpshooters on Shannonside but dotted among the top ten are Shane Hassett of Monaleen and Keith Dempsey from champions, Na Piarsaigh. Last season's top scorer, Aidan O'Connor, remains inside the top ten, with his 2-20 amassed over just two games, prior to his potential season ending hand injury. From play, Con Hayes from Newcastle West has certainly stood up in the Magpies bid to maintain their senior status. He has accumulated the highest total from play (1-15). Close behind him is the aforementioned Jason Gillane (4-5), while Adare's Patrick Kearney (3-8), Mungret's Liam Lynch (3-7), Kildimo-Pallaskenry's Jack O'Keeffe (3-7) and Peter Casey of Na Piarsaigh (2-10) complete the top six. The likes of Kilmallock's Pierce Connery, Mungret's talented half forward Fintan Fitzgerald and Donal Coughlan of Doon have also kept umpires busy. Shane O'Brien's 3-5 has him in tenth, despite only playing two and a half games, with a red card midway through round three seeing him suspended for round four. With regard to goals, there have been 74 goals scored by 48 players. Jason Gillane (4), also tops this list, while Liam Lynch, John Fitzgibbon, Patrick Kearney, Jack O'Keeffe, Donal Coughlan, Shane O'Brien and youngster Eoin Brosnan have all raised three green flags. Meanwhile, Adare have used the most players in their bid to reach the last six. Manager Mark Foley has seen 23 players take to the field, with injuries again playing a part for the west Limerick outfit. At the other end of that metric, Newcastle West have used just 18 players across their four games. Kilmallock have also used 23 players to date, with manager James Hickey welcoming back Robbie Hanley against Ahane last weekend. Generally, clubs use around 21-23 during the group phase with this likely to rise later in the season. Ballybrown and Kildimo Pallaskenry have used 22 players. Clubs are often conscious of maintaining players status on their second team, in what can often be a tricky balancing act. Interestingly, Josh O'Reilly, who started for Ballybrown in their draw against Monaleen last weekend, was promoted from Junior C to Senior, after being selected between the posts. This represents a move from the ninth tier to the top grade in Limerick. With four rounds in the books, 89 players have played all 240 minutes, with Limerick stars dotted among the list. Cian Lynch, Diarmaid Byrnes and Aaron Gillane of Patrickswell and Tom and Dan Morrissey of Ahane are among those deemed irreplaceable at club level. Darragh O'Donovan and Kyle Hayes, who captain their respective clubs have once again been first names on the team sheets. Forty-year-old Mike McMahon of Newcastle West is another to have played the full championship to date, while continuing to balance senior football commitments with the Magpies. At the other end of his career is Jackie Dwane. The Kilmallock starlet has played the entire campaign at corner-back, and has balanced minor commitments where he captained the Balbec to their first Premier Minor crown in 16 years, last week. The coming months will see if John Kiely will call upon new faces, based off their club exploits with only a handful of opportunities available to players to put a hand up for selection, remaining.